The New York Film Festival starts this week and two Edit Center class projects are showing!
Listen Up Philip, directed by Alex Ross Perry and starring Jason Schwartzman and Elisabeth Moss, was the narrative project in the November 2013 six-week class. Alum Betsy Kagen was the film's associate editor.
And Stray Dog, a documentary directed by Debra Granik (Winter's Bone), was a project in the September 2012 class. It was edited and co-produced by alum Victoria Stewart.
The Punk Singer, one of the projects in the May/June 2011 class, has been getting lots of raves. It has an 88% on Rotten Tomatoes right now and today it got another great review in The Guardian. The documentary follows punk legend Kathleen Hanna, lead singer of Bikini Kill and Le Tigre. It was edited by TEC Alum Bo Mehrad (Nov/Dec 2007). The official website is here.
Best Kept Secret, one of the projects in our November/December 2011 class, won a prestigious Peabody Award. The documentary was directed by TEC Alum Samantha Buck (July/August 2009) and follows a New Jersey special needs teacher as she prepares her students with autism for graduation. The film premiered on PBS's POV series last fall. You can watch it online here until June 25.
Desiree Akhavan's Appropriate Behavior and Alex Ross Perry's Listen Up Philip—both 2013 Edit Center class films—had their world premieres at Sundance this week in the NEXT competition. A follow up to the hit web series "The Slope," Appropriate Behavior is Akhavan's feature film debut. Listen Up Philip stars Jason Schwartzman, Elisabeth Moss, Jonathan Pryce, and Krysten Ritter.
We are excited to announce that the narrative class film for the upcoming September/October 2013 6-Week Art of Editing Class will be We'll Never Have Paris. Directed by Simon Helberg (CBS's "The Big Bang Theory") and Jocelyn Towne (I Am I), the film stars Maggie Grace, Zachary Quinto, Simon Helberg, Melanie Lynsky, and Judith Light. The session runs from September 16 - October 25, 2013. To sign up, please visit The Edit Center's registration page.
Class film A Matter of Taste has been added to SundanceNOW's Doc Club in its Culinary Cinema category. A Matter of Taste was produced by TEC alum Rachel Mills and edited by TEC alum Amy Foote (Finishing Heaven). It had its world premiere at South by Southwest in 2011, which kicked off a successful run at festivals such as the Full Frame Film Festival and the Tribeca Film Festival. The film premiered on HBO in June 2011. Thom Powers' full list of "great documentaries about food" can be found here. For more information about A Matter of Taste, visit the film's official website.
Edit Center class film The Punk Singer has been picked up for distribution by Sundance Selects. Edited by TEC Alum Bo Mehrad, the film had its world premiere at the 2013 South by Southwest film festival, where it received critical acclaim. It follows the life of activist, musician, and cultural icon Kathleen Hanna, who formed the punk band Binkini Kill and pioneered the "riot grrrl" movement of the 1990s. TEC Alum Dimon Hunter served as associate editor on the film. The Punk Singer is due for release in Fall 2013. For more information about The Punk Singer visit its official website.
2011 class film All of Me had its world premiere this weekend at the Los Angeles Film Festival where it was named one of 22 Don't Miss Films. The film was edited by Edit Center Alum Sarah Devorkin (Stranger Powers). All of Me follows the lives of a group of obese women living in Texas and their different journeys through the affects of weight-loss surgery on their lives and relationships. The film has also been picked up by PBS's Independent Lens and will air in its 2013-2014 season. For updates on the film's PBS release and other information, please visit the official website.
2011 class film In Our Nature, starring Zach Gilford, Jena Malone, John Slattery and Gabrielle Union opens in New York City today at Cinema Village. The film, edited by TEC alum Kate Abernathy, premiered at South by Southwest earlier this year and will also be released theatrically in Austin, TX on December 14th. For more information on the film's release and to get tickets please visit the official website.
Leah Meyerhoff, the director of Edit Center class film I Believe In Unicorns, has been nominated for IFP's Spotlight on Women Filmmakers 'Live the Dream' grant, a $25,000 cash award for alumni of IFP's Independent Filmmaker Labs. A Sundance Lab finalist, I Believe in Unicorns is Meyerhoff's first feature film and was workshopped in the Edit Center's six-week class earlier this year. The film was edited by TEC alum Becky Laks. For more information on the film please visit its website.
Meanwhile, David France's How to Survive a Plague, which was edited by TEC alum Tyler Walk, received a nomination in the Gotham Awards' Best Documentary category. The film follows two coalitions--ACT UP and TAG--whose activism and innovation turned AIDS from a death sentence into a manageable condition. How to Survive a Plague premiered in January at the Sundance Film Festival and was released theatrically in September. You can find the film's official website here.
A full list of Gotham Award nominees can be seen here.