Feature Film. The Sundance Institute Feature Film Program (FFP) is dedicated to developing and nurturing the next generation of leading edge narrative feature filmmakers through its unique system of creative residencies, resources, and advisory support. For the past 30 years, the Program has championed many of the world’s groundbreaking independent filmmakers by encouraging a rigorous creative process with a focus on original and deeply personal storytelling. By providing tailored year-round support to pioneering filmmakers, the FFP has become a model for supporting artists around the world.
Recent award-winning projects cultivated in the Program include Ryan Coogler’s Fruitvale Station (2013 Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award), Benh Zeitlin’s Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012 Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize), Sean Durkin’s Martha Marcy May Marlene, Cary Fukunaga’s Sin Nombre, Dee Rees’ Pariah, Cherien Dabis’ Amreeka, and Andrei Zvyagintsev’s Elena. April Now Playing. Co-writer | HERE | A Braden King Film starring Ben Foster and Lubna Azabal | Official Selection Sundance 2011. Rendezvous with Rama - Vancouver Film School (VFS) Film socialisme. All Critics (55) | Top Critics (16) | Fresh (32) | Rotten (23) | DVD (4) With its rich, layered storytelling, "Film Socialisme" is, in its broadest sense, about nothing less than the history, present and future of Western civilization, up to and including Internet videos of cats.
This isn't exactly a popcorn movie. I'm not sure it's even a movie, as much as an edgy art installation. It makes a mockery of the star-rating system. How to judge a film on those terms when there's nothing to judge it against? This is Godard's most focused statement in years. Those receptive to Godard's sense of humor will find "Film Socialisme" an elusive yet expansive provocation. This film is an affront. 'No comment' is a shifter, referring back not only to this enigmatic, painful, off-putting, ravishing Film Socialisme-but to all the Godard films that preceded it.
Intriguing but puzzling head-scratcher on the decline of Western civilization. Quickly avant-gardes itself right into incomprehensibility. Life in a Day. All Critics (76) | Top Critics (21) | Fresh (60) | Rotten (15) | DVD (1) Almost inevitably, a film made from these snippets is less than the sum of its parts. This pointillistic view of everyday people never quite gels as a movie, but it has its point-and-click moments. What I took away were some individual moments from people whose lives I wish had played out more. Give Macdonald and crew credit for picking out good, clear, telling contrasts, and not sweating potential heavy-handedness. It strives awfully hard for depth but, more often than not, comes off too shallow. There are dull spots, as with any other day, yet "Life" aims to be, and occasionally is, like a YouTube-y "Our Town," giving a sense of what it is to be alive on planet Earth.
All too well summed up by its closing bit, where a young woman bemoans how she hoped for an eventful day but ended up with another rather mundane one. You walk out with a good feeling, having seen a lot of humanity in the almost raw. 100 Greatest Movies of the '90s.