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.

 

Alum Film Wins Best Documentary at Tribeca

Racing Dreams, a film by Oscar nominated filmmaker Marshall Curry, is receiving tons of praise since it screened last month at the Tribeca Film Festival. Scott Feinberg of the LA Times suggests its, "...the best film of the year, thus far." He goes on to say that ,"the three story lines in Racing Dreams unfold and intersect more rivetingly than most original screenplays... largely because Curry, Matthew Hamachek, and Mary Manhardt were skilled enough to sort through 500 hours of raw footage and tell those stories in just 90 minutes." Editor, Matthew Hamachek is an Edit Center alum and both editor Mary Manhardt and director/editor Marshall Curry have been guest lecturers at TEC. The film won best documentary feature at the festival.

 

Praise for Alum Film, Cropsey

Cropsey, which premiered to sold out crowds at Tribeca Film Festival last month, was praised by John Anderson of Variety who writes, "Cropsey has all the trappings of a true-crime TV special, but with an undercurrent of cultural exposition that is intelligent, profound and unsettling." Cropsey was edited by TEC alum and instructor Anita Gabrosek and co-edited by TEC instructor Pete Beaudreau. Additional TEC alums who worked on the project were: Todd Holmes as an additional editor, Faisal Azam and Ben Stark were assistant editor and associate editor respectively.

 

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Alum Films at Tribeca, "Must Sees"

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Of all 86 films screening at Tribeca this year, 16 were selected as, "Must Sees" by NY Mag -- 2 of which, Cropsey and Racing Dreams, were worked on by TEC alums. Cropsey, a documentary which delves into the mysterious disappearance of kids on Staten Island in the 80's by the hands of a "bogeyman," was edited by alum and instructor Anita Gabrosek, co-edited by TEC instructor Pete Beaudreau, TEC alum and instructor Todd Holmes was an additional editor on the film and TEC alums Faisal Azam and Ben Stark were assistant editor and associate editor respectively. The documentary, Racing Dreams, follows kids competing in the World Karting Association's National Pavement Series. TEC alum, Matthew Hamachek, was one of the editors alongside TEC guest lecturers, Mary Manhardt and director, Marshall Curry.

 

Alum Films Premiere at SXSW

Many TEC Alums premiered their films at SXSW 2009 this month in a variety of categories. Amy Foote was the editor of The Least of These, a documentary focusing on the detainment center in Hutto, Texas that houses immigrant families while they seek asylum. Richard Whitaker of the Austin Chronicle called it a "...quiet and measured documentary." The Least of These is part of a new concept in distribution deals. The night it premiered at SXSW it was also available online at SnagFilms and will be followed by physical and semi-theatrical distribution by IndiePix and Cinema Guild according the indieWIRE. In the shorts category of the festival, the film Tess and Nana premiered which was edited by TEC alums Kate Abernathy and Ron Dulin. Alum, Jenny Lee, was the editor and co-producer of True Adolescents which premiered in the Narrative Competition section. Eric Snider of Cinematical notes of writer/director, Craig Johnson, that he "keeps the humor down-to-earth" in this "...realistic coming-of-age story." True Adolescents will screen next at the Vail Film Festival.

 

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.

 

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Vail Film Festival: Class Films and Alums

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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.

Alum Films at SXSW

Alums, Jenny Lee and Amy Foote, both have films premiering at SXSW this year. Jenny Lee is the editor and co-producer of True Adolescents (starring Melissa Leo and Mark Duplass) which follows aging rocker/slacker Sam who takes two teen boys on an ill-fated hiking trip that forces everyone to grow up, and fast. True Adolescents will compete in the Narrative Feature category. Amy Foote is the editor of The Least of These, a documentary focusing on a detention center for immigrant children in a former medium-security prison, where three activist attorneys discover troubling conditions that lead to controversy. The Least of These will premiere in the Lone Star States Section of the festival.

 

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.