Nursery University Praised in VARIETY

Nursery University, formerly titled Diaper League and the project of the March/April 2007 6-week class, was recently reviewed in VARIETY. Writer John Anderson commented that the film "...may seem like science-fiction: Strange, possessed beings stumble sleepless through a landscape of plenty, willing to sell their kidneys to get their kid into the proper pre-school.... and Nursery University plays it sympathetically, like a Spellbound in training pants." He continued that the film is "...handled with such good humor and humanity by Simon (the director) that you start to forget that what you're so involved with is the question of where some very short people...are going to be finger-painting for the next eight months."

 

TEC Alum's Film to Screen at IFC

Edit Center alum Moira Demos wrote and produced the new documentary film, The State of Wisconsin v. Steven Avery, which will be screening at the Columbia University Film Festival at the IFC Center. Previously, Moira edited the documentary short "Ferry Tales," which was nominated for an Oscar in 2004. The State of Wisconsin v. Steven Avery is about the conviction of an innocent man, his short-lived redemption, and his current struggle to regain his freedom.

 

Festival Updates

Full Battle Rattle, edited by TEC instructor Youna Kwak, received the Special Jury Award in the Documentary Feature catagory at 2008 SXSW Film Festival. Run for Your Life, a film about NYC Marathon founder Fred Lebow, will premiere at this year's Tribeca Film Festival. It was edited by TEC alum Alison Shurman and assisted by alum Ted Rodenborn. Also premiering at Tribeca is Confessionsofa Ex-Doofus-ItchyFooted Mutha, edited by TEC alum Paul Frost and Hotel Gramercy Park, with many alums contributing: Mollie Goldstein and Cindy Lee, editors; Ramsey Fendall and Anita Gabrosek, additional editors; Nick Bussey and Sarah Lynch, assistant editors.

 

Edit Center class project at New Directors/New Films

Moving Midway, a TEC class project of Summer 2006 and edited by alum Ramsey Fendall, has been selected to appear in the New Directors/New Films festival in New York, which is co-presented by the Museum of Modern Art and the Film Society of Lincoln Center. This is one of the most prestigious and selective venues for new films in the U.S.

 

TEC class project, Frozen River, wins at Sundance and more

Congratulations Frozen River for receiving the Grand Jury Prize for Best Narrative Feature at this year's Sundance Film Festival! Frozen River, directed by Courtney Hunt, was the May/June 6-week class project. Congrats to everyone who worked on it! Also premiering at Sundance was The Recruiter (formerly An American Solider), edited by Edit Center alumni, Chad Beck and Adam Bolt. It received a positive review in VARIETY and THE ADVOCATE, "For all the talk about putting a "human face" on the war in Iraq, there may be no better vehicle than The Recruiter, the devastating new documentary from director Edet Belzburg." Congratulations are also in order for TEC Alum Michael Taylor and TEC instructor Geoffrey Richman. They edited The Order of the Myths, directed by Margaret Brown, which Manohla Dargis of the NY TIMES said was "...Handsomely shot and intelligently edited."

 

TEC Alumni and Instructors, Academy Award Nominees

Congratulations to alumni and instructors for their films' 2008 Oscar nominations. No End in Sight, the Iraq war documentary directed by Charles Ferguson, was edited by Edit Center alumni/instructors Chad Beck and Cindy Lee. TEC instructor, Geoffrey Richman, edited Michael Moore's Sicko. Also, TEC Alum, Kristin Lesko, co-produced the documentary Operation Homecoming. Good Luck!

 

Films announced for the Jan/Feb 2008 6 week class

The Edit Center is pleased to announce the class projects for the upcoming January/February 2008 six-week course. The first film will be Sorry, Thanks, starring Wiley Wiggins (Dazed and Confused, Waking Life), and Andrew Bujalski (Funny Ha Ha). Sorry, Thanks is a film about real relationships-ambiguous, underwhelming, incidental-and the people who change us...then exit just as quickly. It 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) and has worked as a producer for Morgan Spurlock (Super Size Me). The second film will be Garbage Dreams, a feature documentary that celebrates the richness, strength and vitality of Egypt's community of indigenous garbage collectors, known as the Zaballeen or “garbage people.” Garbage Dreams is directed by Mai Iskander. Iskander has worked with legendary Academy-Award Nominee Albert Maysles on the documentary Profiles of a Peacemaker and Academy-Award Nominee Edet Belzberg on her documentary The Unofficial Man. She has also worked on dozens of features such as Men in Black and As Good as It Gets.

 

Two Edit Center Projects in Competition at Sundance

Two of The Edit Center's past class projects will be competing at the Sundance Film Festival in 2008. Frozen River, competing in the narrative category, was directed by Courtney Hunt and edited by TEC instructor Kate Williams (with help from the May 2007 six-week course). Competing in the documentary category is An American Soldier, which was formerly titled The Army Recruiter. Directed by MacArthur-winner Edet Belzberg, An American Soldier was a class project in both 2005 and 2006, and was edited after the class by TEC alums Adam Bolt and Chad Beck.

 

Edit Center Alumni and Instructors' Films to Screen at Sundance

Congratulations to the following alumni, instructors, and films premiering at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival: TEC instructor Tim Streeto (editor), alumni Riva Marker (associate producer) and Anthony Brandonisio (post-production coordinator) for Diminished Capacity; TEC instructor Andrew Blackwell (associate editor) Sugar; Alum Michael Taylor (editor) The Order of Myths; Alum Sharon Perlman (post-production assistant) The Savages; Alum Jennifer Lee (assistant editor) American Teen; Instructor Eric Kissack (editor) Birds of America.