3/12/10,
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THIS WEEK IN NEWS: History was made at Oscar night. "Precious" predictably swept the Spirit Awards. Meanwhile indieWIRE readies itself for SXSW. OSCAR: "The Hurt Locker" swept the 82nd Academy Awards on Sunday night, raking in a hefty six Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director for Kathryn Bigelow. Bigelow made history as the first woman ever awarded the prize. Another milestone was set by Geoffrey Fletcher, who upset Jason Reitman ...
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3/12/10,
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This interview was originally published as part of indieWIRE's coverage of the 2009 Berlin Film Festival. "The Exploding Girl" opens in New York City today. "Both of our films are slow and quiet," admitted filmmaker So Yong Kim, almost apologetically, during a conversation with indieWIRE last year. She was referring to feature films by she and her husband, Bradley Rust Gray. A couple who met at the Chicago Art Institute fifteen ...
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3/12/10,
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With badge sales up 25% since last year, the 2010 SXSW Film Conference & Festival has, according to Austin American-Statesman writer Chris Garcia, "evolved with a rapidly changing film culture. It has branched from its roots as a refuge for low- and micro-budget movies that weren't ready for more established events, such as the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, to become a destination for rising independent filmmakers to rub ...
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3/12/10,
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"11/4/08"'s marks Jeff Deutchman's directorial debut. After four years working in various facets of the independent film industry, Deutchman spearheaded a collaborative initiative to bring together friends from all over the world to capture history. Two weeks before the election of Barack Obama, I asked friends around the world to record their experiences of 11/4/08, a day that had become historic before it had even taken place. In this documentary, a ...
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3/12/10,
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Boston DIY filmmaker Garth Donovan is an independent filmmaker to the max. He completed his fourth feature, "Phillip the Fossil," in a green, recession friendly manner, using a small crew and a host of non-actors. "Phillip The Fossil" follows an aging party animal chasing the now extinct glory days of his youth. Chuckling along as the carefree town jester, Phillip has become completely isolated in the dead end rut he so ...
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3/12/10,
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Simon Rumley comes to America for the first time in his five-feature career. In "Red White & Blue," a part of the Emerging Visions program, "Erica (Amanda Fuller) spends her nights trawling the bars and beds of Austin. Emotionally withdrawn, sleeping with multiple men is just what she does... until she meets the older and mysterious Nate (Noah Taylor), who claims to have an "honorable discharge" from Iraq. Despite his air ...
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3/12/10,
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While the Austin film scene was born out of energy harnessed by Richard Linklater more than twenty years ago, it was apparently bolstered on a sidewalk in Southern California. It was 1994 and both Linklater and Quentin Tarantino were in Santa Monica for a midnight repertory screening of Robert Altman's "Nashville." "Hey, are you Quentin Tarantino?" the Austin director asked the L.A. filmmaker at nearly 3 a.m. after the Altman showing. ...
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3/12/10,
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Director Miao Wang's "Beijing Taxi" is a feature length documentary that "vividly portrays Beijing undergoing a profound transformational arch. Through a humanistic lens, the intimate lives of three taxi drivers connect a morphing city confronted with modern issues and changing values. With diverse imagery combined with a contemporary score rich in atmosphere, we experience a visceral sense of the common citizensÕ persistent attempts to grasp the elusive. Candid and perceptive in ...
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3/12/10,
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Paul Gordon's "The Happy Poet" came out of his desire to do something and the appeal of making a film set in a food stand. "Bill, an out-of-work poet, puts his heart, soul, and last few dollars into starting an all-organic, mostly-vegetarian food stand. New friend Donnie promotes the business and helps Bill pursue Agnes, a poetry-lover who frequents the stand. Curtis, an enigmatic life-philosopher, buoys Bill's spirits with his positive ...
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3/12/10,
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Sophie Deraspe's new film explores dying in a sensitive way. After finding a muse in a hospital, she decided to write a script based on Ms. Marie-Helene Bellavance. "'Les Signes Vitaux' ('Vital Signs') follows Simone who suddenly finds herself back in Quebec City following her grandmother's death. She has no idea her student existence is about to be scuttled... by the discovery of life itself. A switch is mysteriously flicked, and ...
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