Cold Weather, the narrative project of the July 2009 6-week class, has been receiving rave reviews from IFC, Variety, and LA Times as well as from indieWIRE in which Eric Kohn called the film, “the kind of moving image experience informed by expressive audiovisual maneuvers rather than melodramatic overstatements.” It also averaged an "A-" grade from six critics at indieWIRE. Cold Weather is currently seeking U.S. distribution.
Strange Powers: Stephin Merritt and the Magnetic Fields, the documentary project of the May 2008 6-week class, premiered at SXSW in the 24 Beats Per Minute category and is now continuing on its festival tour. Next up, the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival in North Carolina, followed by the Florida International Film Festival and then the film is off to Buenos Aires for the International Independent Cinema Festival. To see a trailer of the film and a list of screenings, visit: http://strangepowersfilm.com/
For Once in My Life, a project of the July 2009 6-week class, won the Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature at SXSW. The film has been receiving praise from many places including Cinematical, which writes, "South by Southwest has a great history of introducing documentaries to audiences. Some have even ended up on the shortlist and final lists for Oscar. Of all the ones I have seen so far from this fest, one Oscar will have a hard time avoiding is this film…" The film was edited by TEC alum, Amy Foote.
Strange Powers: Stephin Merritt and the Magnetic Fields, the project of the July 2008 6-week class, screens at the Full Frame Documentary Festival in April. The film was edited by Sarah Devorkin, co-edited by Naomi Goodman and assisted by Kathryn Schubert -- all of whom are alums. Also screening at Full Frame is Racing Dreams, directed and edited by TEC guest lecturer Marshall Curry. TEC alum Matthew Hamachek and TEC guest lecturer Mary Manhardt were also editors on the film.
Reporter, the project of the November 2007 class, makes it television premiere on HBO February 18th. The documentary is set in central Africa and chronicles, in verité fashion, the haunting, physically grueling and, at moments, shocking voyage of Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist, Nick Kristof. TEC Alums, Daniel Rosen and Bo Mehrad were the associate editor and additional editor, respectively, on the film. The film was nominated for a Grand Jury Prize at Sundance in 2009. For additional viewings, visit HBO.
As previously written, four Edit Center films will be screening at SXSW. In addition, Silver Sling will be playing at the fest as part of the FutureStates sci-fi series presented by ITVS -- the short was edited by alum Jenny Lee who was assisted by alum Phil Thangsombat. Jenny is also the post-supervisor on Camp Victory: Afghanistan, which is playing in the doc competition. Lastly, the short titled Bikini Lighters - directed and edited by TEC instructor Andrew Blackwell - will premiere in the narrative shorts section.
Four Edit Center class films to play SXSW in March. Cold Weather (July 2009), Strange Powers: Stephin Merritt and The Magnetic Fields (July 2008 & September 2008), For Once in My Life (July 2009), and fresh off its Sundance win, Winter's Bone (May 2009). For Once in My Life was edited by TEC Alum Amy Foote, Strange Powers was edited by Sarah Devorkin, co-edited by Naomi Goodman and assisted by Kathryn Schubert -- all of whom are alums. Winter's Bone was cut by TEC instructor, Affonso Gonçalves.
Acclaimed drama and the project of the September 2007 class, Trucker (starring Michelle Monaghan and Nathan Fillion), is now available on iTunes. Cinematical's Erik Davis wrote: "Monaghan finally delivered the sort of performance I've known was trapped somewhere inside her, hidden behind a variety of big, flashy Hollywood films." Download here.
Winter's Bone, the project of the May 2009 6-week class, won the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance 2010 film festival. Eric Kohn of indieWIRE, writes that the film is "An elegant, soft spoken noir," and the characters' conflicts of interests "…places the drama in such a meditative world that the antagonism morphs into a tone poem with random inflections of genre conventions." And Justin Chang of Variety writes that Winter's Bone is "…utterly enveloping." The film was directed by Debra Granik, written by Granik and Anne Rosellini (Down to the Bone, Sundance 2004) and edited by TEC instructor Affonso Gonçalves, who was assisted by TEC alums Naomi Goodman and Tory Stewart.
Lance Edmands (TEC Alum '04) and Myna Joseph (TEC Alum '01) are two of the twelve filmmakers chosen every year by the Sundance Institute to attend the "Screenwriters Lab," a five-day screenwriting workshop that takes place at the Sundance Resort in Utah. Edmands was selected for his project entitled Bluebird, and Joseph was chosen for her script, My Favorite Nightmare. The workshop promotes artistic freedom and encourages filmmakers to explore new methods of storytelling. Attendees of this year's "Screenwriters Lab" include filmmakers from China, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East, in addition to the United States. For more information on the "Screenwriters Lab" please visit their website.