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Class projects

Skatopia to Premiere at ACEFest

Skatopia: 88 Acres of Anarchy, the documentary project of the May 2008 6-week class, will premiere at NYC indie film fest ACEFest on Saturday, July 11th. Skatopia the film documents the life of Skatopia, the Appalachian farm where hardcore skating, punk rock and hillbilly culture collide. The film centers on the owner and self-proclaimed leader of the farm, Brewce Martin, who presides over the daily mayhem like a modern-day Jim Jones. Skatopia was edited by TEC alum Ramsey Fendall.

 

Sorry, Thanks to Screen at BAMcinemaFEST

Sorry, Thanks, the project of the January 2008 six week class, will have its NY premiere as part of the BAMcinemaFEST in June. The film stars Wiley Wiggins (Dazed and Confused, Waking Life), and Andrew Bujalski (Funny Ha Ha) and is directed by Dia Sokol who was the in-house producer for acclaimed director Errol Morris for four years (The Fog of War, The Thin Blue Line). For more information on the Fest or to purchase tix, visit: http://www.bam.org/view.aspx?pid=1193

 

The Missing Person Acquired by Strand Releasing

The Missing Person, which premiered at this year's Sundance Film Fest and stars Michael Shannon (Revolutionary Road, Before the Devil Knows You're Dead) and Amy Ryan (The Office, Gone Baby Gone), was just snapped up by Strand Releasing. Strand acquired all U.S. rights to what has been called a "delightfully strange noir" by New York Magazine. The Missing Person was edited by TEC alum/instructor Mollie Goldstein and was the project of the November 2007, 6-week class.

 

May Six-Week Class Films Announced

Two feature films will be going through the upcoming six-week class starting May 18th. The first is a narrative titled Winter's Bone, which comes to us from the award winning filmmakers, Debra Granik and Anne Rosellini. Debra won the Director's Award for the film Down to the Bone at Sundance in 2004 -- Anne Rosellini was the producer on the film. Winter's Bone tells the story of Ree Dolly, a 17-year-old high school dropout who has to track down her father before creditors seize the house that he put up for bond before he disappeared. Failure, as they say, is not an option — or else Ree, her young siblings and their mother will be turned out into the Ozark woods. The second class film is a documentary titled Up Heartbreak Hill that follows high school seniors who live on a Navajo reservation in New Mexico. They are contemplating what they will do after graduation -- stay in their community – a place inextricably woven into the fiber of their being – or leave, in pursuit of educational and economic opportunities. They are constantly struggling to reconcile their desires with their sense of obligation to the community that helps define them. The choices they make will have ramifications not just for themselves and for their families, but for the town in which they’ve spent their entire lives.

 

Class Films Premiere at SXSW

Garbage Dreams, a film that celebrates the richness, strength and vitality of Egypt's community of indigenous garbage collectors, known as the Zaballeen or “garbage people," was a crowd favorite at the festival selling out for all three of its screenings. Of Sorry, Thanks, Eric Kohn of indieWIRE writes the film has "keen insight into human behavior," and that it "...has a wonderfully coherent structure, fully developed personalities and mostly gorgeous photograph." Garbage Dream's next screening will be at the Vail Film Festival in April. Sorry, Thanks' next stop will be at the Sarasota Film Festival in April as well.

 

Vail Film Festival: Class Films and Alums

Two class films, Trucker and Garbage Dreams, will be screening at this year's Vail Film Festival. Trucker, the project of the September 2007 class, stars Michelle Monaghan (Eagle Eye, Gone Baby Gone) and Nathan Fillion (Waitress, Serenity) -- the film was post-supervised by TEC alum, Riva Marker. TEC alums Marichelle Tanang and Brian Richman were assistant editors on the documentary, Garbage Dreams, the project of January 2008 class. Also screening at Vail is the narrative film, True Adolescents, edited and co-produced by TEC alum Jenny Lee.

Two Class Films to Premiere at SXSW

Sorry, Thanks and Garbage Dreams, both projects of the Jan/Feb 2008 class, will premiere at the SXSW Film Festival in March. Sorry, Thanks (starring Wiley Wiggins) will premiere in the Emerging Visions section and Garbage Dreams, a film that celebrates the richness, strength and vitality of Egypt's community of indigenous garbage collectors, known as the Zaballeen or “garbage people" will compete in the Documentary Feature category.

 

Sundance Film Updates

Edit Center alums and teachers received awards, praise and deals at this year's Sundance Film Festival: The Cove, edited by TEC instructor Geoff Richman, won the Documentary Audience Award and was praised by Justin Chang of Variety: "Casting a very wide net, this powerful polemic is simultaneously a love letter to a beloved species, an eye-opening primer on worldwide dolphin captivity, a playful paranoid thriller and a work of deep-seated... moral outrage."; The Missing Person, edited by TEC alum Mollie Goldstein and a 2007 Edit Center class project, was well received at the festival and James Rocchi wrote on Cinematical that the film "isn't merely a clever, cool spin on the classic private eye story...It has the knowing, humane touches of Paul Auster's brilliant urban fiction."; Peter and Vandy, also edited by TEC instructor Geoff Richman and a 2008 Edit Center project, displayed one of the best female performances of the festival (Jess Weixler) states Steve Ramos of indieWIRE; Cold Souls (starring Paul Giamatti), in which TEC instructor Andrew Blackwell was the associate editor, was acquired by Samuel Goldman after the festival; Reporter, a 2007 class project, was reviewed by Eric Kohn of indieWIRE who writes, "With a series of gorgeous, frequently haunting sequences, Metzger captures the wide-ranging responses of struggling Africans." TEC Alums, Daniel Rosen and Bo Mehrad were the associate editor and additional editor, respectively, on Reporter.

 

TEC Alumni and Instructor, Academy Award Nominees

Congratulations to Alumni and Instructors for their films' 2008 Oscar nominations. Alum Udayan Baijal was the assistant editor on Slumdog Millionaire, which garnered 10 Oscar nomination. TEC instructor, Kate Williams, edited Frozen River (class film May 2007) up for Best Actress, Melissa Leo, and Original Screenplay, writer/director Courtney Hunt. The Betrayal (Nerakhoon), competing for Best Documentary, was post supervised by alum Riva Marker and Sharon Hughes was an assistant editor on the film.

 

The Winning Season Acquired by Lionsgate

The Winning Season, a project of the November 2008 class, has been picked up by Lionsgate after a successful premiere at Sundance. The film "...touches, in a surprisingly honest, unforced manner, on issues such as alcoholism, adolescent sexual confusion and broken homes, " Justin Chang of Variety. The film stars Sam Rockwell (Frost/Nixon), Rob Corddry (W.), Emma Roberts (Hotel for Dogs) and was co-produced by TEC alum, Riva Marker.