TEC Class Film To Premiere at CineQuest

#Like - 2018 class film, edited by TEC alum Matt Yaple, will premiere at CineQuest Film Festival on March 9th. 

Directed by Sara Pirozek.


”Woodstock teenager, Rosie, is mourning her younger sister Amelia's death when she discovers a mysterious man, (Marc Menchaca, Ozark), who sexploited and bullied her sister, is back on-line, trolling for new victims. When the local police refuse to investigate, Rosie finds a darker side she never knew she had, as she decides to take justice into her own hands. Her pursuit of the man leads her down a murky path raising burning questions, will she find him? And if she does... then what?, When does the victim become the perpetrator? Will justice prevail? How will Rosie come out of this intact? This noir, psychological thriller will leave you breathless, a taut observation of teen sexuality and paranoia, at the intersection of #MeToo and the un-policed borders of cyber life. #LIKE is blessed with a stellar, break-out performance by Sarah Rich, under the steely eye of Sarah Pirozek who makes her deftly chilling directorial debut.”

Tickets and information about the screenings can be found here.

Interview with TEC Alum Marina Katz on new film “the Brink”

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TEC Alum, Marina Katz, spoke with Filmmaker Magazine, along with co-editor Brian Goetz, to discuss her experience working on the documentary feature, The Brink, which premiered at Sundance 2019. The documentary follows Steve Bannon as he tries to rebrand himself after his time at The White House.

"We created a rule with the archival: it could only be informational, not used as a surrogate for the voice of the filmmaker. This helped keep it pointed and smart. For dramatic effect, we covered radio voices with verite of our protagonist, adding a layer of him reacting to the news media about him. We passed sequences back and forth, and to our director too, always keeping the edit moving. This helped us put together the film quickly—which was necessary, given our short tight frame!”

You can read the full article here.

Find more information about the film here.

TEC Class Film Will Be Screened at DCTV

16 Bars, TEC January/February 2018 class documentary, will be screened at the Downtown Community Television Center on Monday, March 25th at 7:00pm. There will be a Q&A session with Sam Bathrick (Director), Adam Barton (Producer), and Alex Cullen (Director of Photography) following the screening. The event is part of the Winter 2019 season of DCTV Presents.

16 Bars was directed by Sam Bathrick and edited by Al Shurman, a TEC alum.

16 Bars is a feature length music documentary that offers a rare glimpse at the human stories — and songs — that are locked away in our nation’s jails and prisons. The film follows a unique rehabilitation effort in the Richmond City Justice Center that invites inmates to write and record original music. In the jail’s makeshift recording studio, four men collaborate on an album with a Grammy-winning recording artist, Todd “Speech” Thomas, from the iconic activist hip-hop group Arrested Development. As the creative process unfurls, each is forced to face painful memories from the past, which hold a key to a new chapter in their lives.

The film is set in Richmond Virginia, where the legacy of systemic racism, a spiraling opioid crisis, generational poverty, and a lack of mental health services have entrapped many of its citizens in a cycle of incarceration, making the city itself a unique case study for rising recidivism rates in the U.S. at large. With the U.S. locking up more of its citizens per capita than any other nation on the planet, the music of the film serves as rare testimony to the raw and messy truth behind the criminal justice system’s revolving door.”

Tickets and additional information about the screening may be found here.

IFC Pure Nonfiction's Winter 2019 season begins with TEC Class Film

United Skates, a 2016 TEC Class film, will be screened at IFC Center on Tuesday, February 5th 2019, as part of the Winter 2019 season of Pure Nonfiction. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with Director Tina Brown and subject Reggie.

Directed by Dyana Winkler & Tina Brown.

“Off the radar of mainstream American culture, the African-American roller-rink community has thrived for decades in cities across the country, fostering community, hosting performances by groundbreaking hip-hop artists including N.W.A. and Queen Latifah, and serving as the incubator for a radical blend of skating and dance that stands as its own unique art form, complete with regional variations. Despite this remarkable history, skating is in a precarious state; re-zoning policies have led to rinks closing down, and the long-standing, still-present practice of admission policies have, historically, restricted attendance to racially-coded ‘Adult Nights’ and even discouraged or barred black patrons entirely.
 
It’s to this present reality that directors Dyana Winkler and Tina Brown turn their cameras. The HBO Documentary Film United Skates visits black rink owners and observes skaters from Los Angeles, Chicago, North Carolina, and beyond as they travel across the United States, introduce their kids to the art, muse on its past and future, and, most importantly, skate. This electrifying work is at once a cultural history lesson, an investigation into racial politics, and a beautifully shot performance film.”

Tickets and additional information about the screening can be found here.

United Skates will premiere on HBO on Monday, February 18th at 8pm ET. The film will be available on-demand on Tuesday, February 19th.

TEC Class Film To Premiere at CineQuest

Same Boat (formerly Time Kill Love Cruise) 2018 class film, edited by TEC alum Josh Melrod, will premiere at CineQuest Film Festival in March. 

Directed by Chris Roberti.


”What if you could go back in time and prevent catastrophes that destroyed mankind? What would you change? Who would you choose to remove? James is a time traveling assassin who kills bad people assigned to him, before they wreak havoc on future generations. Reality TV innovator, pollution enabling lawyer, no one walks free. Almost. When Lily gets away with James' heart, he has to make a tough choice. A cruise journey and some stolen moments let James ponder, gain perspective, and question for the first time - his purpose and contribution in the overall scheme of things. The choices he makes, and the lessons he learns make for a hilarious and compelling experience.”

Tickets and information about the screenings can be found here.

 

TEC AT SXSW 2019

We're excited to announce that one class film and a couple of alumni projects are included at this year's SXSW Festival!


Congratulations to all involved!

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Yes, God, Yes | Editor Jennifer Lee (TEC Alum)

Directed by Karen Maine

“After an innocent AOL chat turns racy, a Catholic teenager in the early 00s discovers masturbating and struggles to suppress her new urges in the face of eternal damnation.”

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The Gift: The Journey of Johnny Cash | Editor Chris Iversen (TEC Alum)

Directed by Thom Zimny

“Johnny Cash stands among the giants of 20th century American life. But his story remains tangled in mystery and myth. This documentary, created with the full cooperation of the Cash estate and rich in recently discovered archival materials, brings Cash the man out from behind the legend. Taking the remarkable Folsom Prison recording as a central motif and featuring interviews with family and celebrated collaborators, the film explores the artistic victories, the personal tragedies, the struggles with addiction, and the spiritual pursuits that colored Johnny Cash's life.”

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Mother’s Little Helpers | July/August 2018 Class Film

Directed by Kestrin Pantera

“When Joy Pride, a groovy 70’s burn-out on the caboose of the flower power movement learns she has weeks to live, her estranged children come together to do right by a mother who always did them wrong. It's based on the premise that no matter who dies, we always find a way to make it all about us.”

TEC AT SUNDANCE

We're excited announce that several films by TEC  alums and teachers made it into Sundance Film Festival's 2019 lineup!

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Halston | Editor Elia Gasull Balada (TEC Alum/Teacher)

Halston tells the story of a complicated man—in both his craft and his business decisions—from the mouths of those who knew the man best. Frédéric Tcheng, a great documentarian of fashion luminaries like Valentino, Diana Vreeland, and Raf Simons, takes an unconventional approach to the bio-doc by creating a narrative (starring Tavi Gevinson, a fashion icon of a different generation) through which to frame the story of this enigmatic designer, which allows Tcheng to delve deeper into this comprehensive exploration of the designer’s rise, fall, and enduring influence.

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Hail Satan | Editor Amy Foote (TEC Alum/Teacher)

Brandishing their sharply honed cinematic swords, director Penny Lane and producer Gabriel Sedgwick strike a cunning balance between cheeky, brazen entertainment and defiantly serious storytelling in this wickedly topical documentary that bares its horns to speak truth to power.

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The Mountain | Editor Michael Taylor (TEC Alum)

Alverson, known for his grim, hypnotic body of work, has crafted another cryptic odyssey through the backroads of America. Pushing his peculiar vision to new heights of design, sound, and story, he captures another standout performance from Tye Sheridan while mixing things up with new players like Jeff Goldblum, Denis Lavant, and Udo Kier.

The Farewell | Editor Michael Taylor (TEC Alum)

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A heartfelt celebration of both the way we perform family and the way we live it, The Farewell masterfully interweaves a gently humorous depiction of the good lie in action with a thoughtful exploration of how our cultural heritage does and does not travel with us when we leave our homes. Writer/director Lulu Wang imbues The Farewell with warmth and knowing wit, while the uniformly excellent ensemble cast (anchored by a breakout performance by Awkwafina) invites us to share this extended clan’s joy and sorrow—and to feel, for the length of this remarkable film, like a part of their family.

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Selah and The Spades | Editor Kate Abernathy (TEC Alum)

In her feature debut, writer/director Tayarisha Poe immerses us in a heightened depiction of teenage politics. This searing character study encapsulates just how intoxicating power can be for a teenage girl who acutely feels the threat of being denied it. Exciting newcomer Lovie Simone’s performance beautifully embodies both Selah’s publicly impeccable command and the internal fears and uncertainty that drive it.

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Suicide by Sunlight | Editor Marina Katz (TEC Alum)

Valentina, a day-walking black vampire protected from the sun by her melanin, is forced to restrain her bloodlust to regain custody of her estranged daughters.

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The Wolf Hour | First Assistant Editor Katrina Pastore (TEC Alum)

With Hitchcockian tautness, writer-director Alistair Banks Griffin flawlessly captures the style and texture of the 1970s and the interior unraveling of a woman who, like her city, is teetering on a knife-edge. Naomi Watts’s astonishing performance is that of an antihero racked with paralyzing anxiety. In this eerily resonant allegory for our times, she is, like all of us, weighing her actions in a world on the brink of collapse.

TEC ALUM FILMS NOMINATED FOR GRAMMY AWARD

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The King, edited by TEC alums Elia Gasull Balada & Betsy Kagen, assistant edited by Janah Cox and Andres Vergara with Samuel Kun as a PA/Researcher, is nominated for a Grammy in the Best Music Film category.

“Jarecki presents Presley’s and Phillips’s blatant and intentional cultural appropriation from various angles: as a form of resistance to segregation, an authentic effort to honor musicians whom they loved, yet also a path to wealth and fame that left those musicians behind, unrewarded and unrecognized.”

- Richard Brody at The New Yorker

Itzhak. edited by TEC alum Helen Yum with additional cinematography by TEC Alum Ramsey Fendall, is nominated for Best Music Film at the 2019 Grammy Awards.

"There's never a doubt that you're in the hands of craftspeople operating at the peak of their powers, even as each choice serves the work. Helen Yum's editing is superb. It displays a rare sense of how to cut musical performances and dialogue together in a way that preserves the continuity of the music while favoring the forward motion of the story."

- Matt Seitz at Roger Ebert

New York Times’ Critic's Pick Edited By TEC Alum

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Rams, a design documentary edited by TEC alum Kayla Sklar, is in the middle of its week long run at Metrograph and it was just featured as a Critic’s Pick by the New York Times’ critic Glenn Kenny!

Read the full review here.

The film, directed by Gary Hustwit, is about Dieter Rams - a German industrial designer who, at the age of 86, continues to hold an active life full of questions of product sustainability.

Tickets for the film at Metrograph can be purchased here.

Interview with TEC Alum Mollie Goldstein on editing netflix original

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TEC Alum and TEC Instructor, Mollie Goldstein, sat down with James Collins at Mandy.com to discuss her experience working on the hit Netflix Original film, Like Father.

"I was cutting during production, which is always really important to me, because I consider a part of my job to give feedback – if they didn’t catch something, that we can fix that while the cast is still there and the camera is still rolling, then we do it. Whether it’s an establishing shot or an insert or even performance issues, we can get it."

You can read the full article here.