Director Series: Profile Filmmaker Timur Bekmambetov Explains Using Screenlife to Create Cinema
From his early days making epic (yet fairly low-budget) Russian blockbusters, such as Night Watch and its sequel, Day Watch, Director Timur Bekmambetov has constantly tried to push technological boundaries through his filmmaking. Although he has made numerous ventures into Hollywood with films like Wanted and Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, Bekmambetov never ventured far... »
Director Series: Ben Wheatley Goes In the Earth For Latest Eco-Thriller
Director Ben Wheatley might be seen either as Britain’s most prolific indie filmmaker or possibly the most eccentric, depending on who you ask and whether they appreciate his frequent forays into the odder side of genre filmmaking. His latest, In the Earth, begins with two rangers, played by Joel Fry and Ellora Torchia, venturing... »
Director Series: Neil Burger Tackles Coming of Age… In Spaaaace! for Voyagers
Director Neil Burger’s 30-year career has taken him through a fairly varied journey from his early days doing music videos to his first three very different feature films, all of which he wrote: Interview with the Assassin (2002), The Illusionist (2006) and The Lucky Ones (2008). From there, he had a sci-fi hit with... »
DIRECTOR SERIES: Tim Story Shifts to Animated Hybrid for Tom & Jerry
Director Tim Story has been making movies for over two decades, but it wasn’t until around 2002 when Story’s ability with comedy came to the forefront as he directed Ice Cube’s Barbershop in 2002. That was followed by the odd couple pairing of Jimmy Fallon and Queen Latifah for a remake of Luc Besson’s... »
DIRECTOR SERIES: Kevin Macdonald Recreates, Captures Real Life in The Mauritanian, Life in a Day 2020
Twenty years ago, Scottish director Kevin Macdonald won an Oscar for his documentary, One Day in September, but in the two decades since, he has successfully straddled the line between narrative and documentary with a filmography that constantly sees him trying new things. Macdonald’s latest film, The Mauritanian, allows him to continue to balance... »
DIRECTOR SERIES: George C. Wolfe on Adapting August Wilson’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
If you were to judge a director by the number of movies they’ve released into movie theaters, you’d be paying a huge disservice to Director George C. Wolfe, who has won multiple Tony, Obie and Drama Desk Awards for his stage direction as well as a Directors Guild award for directing the 2005 HBO television... »
DIRECTOR SERIES: Paul Greengrass Goes West(ern) for News of the World
Although filmmaker Paul Greengrass has been directing movies and television since the mid-80s, his 2002 film Bloody Sunday, about the “Troubles” in Northern Ireland, was what finally got him notice as a filmmaker. That led to a fairly large leap into studio movies, directing Universal Pictures’ action sequel, The Bourne Supremacy – Greengrass would... »
Director Series: Steve McQueen Talks About Crafting History in His Small Axe Anthology
Throughout the ‘90s and early Aughts, filmmaker Steve McQueen was mostly known on the art scene for his short films and art installations. He had a huge breakout in 2008 when his debut feature Hunger debuted at the Cannes Film Festival. Starring McQueen’s frequent collaborator Michael Fassbender as Bobby Sands, the film dealt with... »
Filmmaker Spotlight: Remi Weekes on His House
2020 has been a great year for new talent to have their smaller films seen by much larger audiences, mainly because a lot of the studio films have been delayed or yanked or sent directly to streaming. In fact, streamer Netfix has certainly done its share of shining the spotlight on this new talent... »
Filmmaker Spotlight: Dawn Porter on The Way I See It and John Lewis: Good Trouble
With only a few months left to the year, it’s fairly evident that while 2020 hasn’t produced nearly as many theatrical blockbusters as past years, it has been a pretty good year for documentaries. One filmmaker who has done quite well for herself despite the pandemic is Dawn Porter, who directed not one but... »