Both Palindromes and Be Here to Love Me: A Film about Townes Van Zandt, will be screening at the 2005 South by Southwest Film Festival taking place in Austin, Texas in March. Palindromes, directed by Todd Solondz, was edited by alum Mollie Goldstein and Edit Center instructor Kevin Messman. Be Here to Love Me, a music documentary, was edited by alum Michael Taylor and directed by Margaret Brown.
Down to the Bone, edited by Edit Center teacher Malcolm Jamieson with associate editor Todd Williams (a TEC alum), and Liberia: An Uncivil War, edited by TEC alum Michael Kovalenko, have both been featured as two of IndieWire's Top 15 Undistributed Films of 2005. "If Debra Granik's Down to the Bone can't find a good distribution deal, indie film is really dead," said IndieWire. "The film's climax, involving a betrayal of more than just love, hits a nerve as deep as any of this year's Oscar contenders."
In brief: Edit Center alum Holly Schlesinger, who took the six-week class in the summer of 2001, is working as a segment producer for Fuse. Frank Luna, from the September/October 2004 course, has been hired as a full-time assistant editor for the post-production facility Batwin & Robin. The work of alumni Sam Farrell and Ted Rodenborn -- as well as the whole November/December 2003 class -- is now for sale on DVD. What Goes On, the music DVD that was one of their class projects, is now available for purchase at www.whatgoeson.tv.
After the last edition of the alumni newsletter, many TEC alums wrote back to share what they are doing. Victoria Lang (March/April 2004) was just hired as a post-production assistant on Prime, starring Meryl Streep and Uma Thurman and edited by Kris Boden (Carlito's Way, Insomnia). Giacomo Ambrosini (March/April 2004) just finished cutting the trailer for the independent feature Susan Hero. Andrew Shulman (March/April 2003) is teaching editing and video production classes at the Bronx Museum of Art. Michael Taylor (July/August 2001) edited the film commune, which will be playing at next month's Slamdance Film Festival (another film Michael edited, Homework, won the Grand Jury Prize at Slamdance last year).
Saving Face, which was directed by Edit Center alum Alice Wu, will be screening in the American Spectrum section of the 2005 Sundance Film Festival. Earlier this year, the film was a hit at the Toronto Film Festival and was purchased for distribution by Sony Pictures Classics. Saving Face was edited by Susan Graef (She's the One) and Edit Center instructor Sabine Hoffman (Personal Velocity).
Swimmers and Room, both projects of Edit Center classes in 2004, have both been accepted to the 2005 Sundance Film Festival. Swimmers, directed by Doug Sadler, will be screening in the American Spectrum section of the festival. After the class, Swimmers was edited by Edit Center teacher Affonso Goncalves and alum Lilah Bankier, with assistant editor (and Edit Center alum) Paul Kondo. Room, directed by Kyle Henry, was edited by Edit Center teacher Pete Beaudreau with assistance from alumni Riva Marker and Victoria Lang. It will be featured in the Frontier category.
Liberia: An Uncivil War, was awarded a Special Jury Prize at the conclusion of the International Documentary Film Festival. The film was edited by Michael Kovalenko, an Edit Center alum, and aired on the Discovery Channel earlier this year.
Edit Center alumni Denise Garcia, David Bemis, and Ancil McKain are all working as editors on the television show Looking South, an interview program that examines Latin American economic, social, and political developments. David was a student of the September 2003 six-week course, while Ancil and Denise were both students in the summer of 2003.
Saving Face, directed by Edit Center alum Alice Wu, has been purchased for distribution by Sony Pictures Classics. The film was a hit at the Toronto Film Festival, where Variety called it "a warmly observed, low-key charmer." It was edited by Susan Graef (She's the One) and Edit Center instructor Sabine Hoffman (Personal Velocity).
Film School, a reality series about NYU students making their thesis films, has begun airing on the Independent Film Channel (Fridays at 10:30 pm). Edit Center graduates Minnea Lin, Matthew Hamacheck, and Ancil McKain worked as assistant editors on the series, helping to manage the 2,000 hours that were shot (and eventually edited down to six half-hour episodes).