indieWIRE PeopleindieWIRE's interviews with filmmakers and industry shakers in the independent film industry, part of our award-winning coverage of indie film.Questions for Noah Cowan, Co-Director of the Toronto International Film Festival- (Found June 24, 2008 ) Organizers of the Toronto International Film Festival seem quite proud of this year's lineup, in particular new festival co-director Noah Cowan is boasting about a diverse lineup of some 335 films this yea that includes more than 100 world premieres. Now in its 30th year, Toronto has become a key destination that ushers in the fall movie season for industry and audiences alike. Cowan knows the Toronto fest quite well, having started at the event as a box office volunteer while in high school in.http://www.indiewire.com/people/people_050825noah.html 5 Questions for Jennie Livingston, Director of "Paris Is Burning" and "Who's The Top"- (Found June 24, 2008 ) When I first saw "Paris Is Burning" in Los Angeles in 1991 it blew me away. Not counting Michael Moore's "Roger & Me," it was the first true documentary, in this case a portrait of a group of New Yorkers who were part of the ball scene, I had ever seen in a movie theater. After it came out on video, I watched it many more times with friends and have always admired Jennie Livingston for creating such an incredible look inside a world that my friends and I found...http://www.indiewire.com/people/people_050805five.html Acting 101: Maggie Cheung on "2046," "In The Mood For Love," and "Clean"- (Found June 24, 2008 ) Maggie Cheung learned about the art of acting the hard way. By making movies. At least that's what she told a room full of more than 200 of her fans on recently in New York, at an event during the Asian American International Film Festival, co-hosted by the Asia Society and The Film Society of Lincoln Center. "It took me the first 10 years of my career to learn what acting is, what filmmaking is," said the 40-year-old-actress who got her start as a model "to avoid going to...http://www.indiewire.com/people/people_050808cheung.html DVD RE-RUN INTERVIEW: Music and Collaboration, Agnes Jaoui Talks About "Look at Me"- (Found June 24, 2008 ) They co-write the script and co-star in the film, which she then directs -- and to judge by awards reaped and delighted viewers, Agnes Jaoui and Jean-Pierre Bacri have a good thing going. The multi-gifted pair came to notice with the Oscar nominated "The Taste of Others," a delicious comedy of manners about two unlikely lovers who leap economic and cultural barriers. Now comes the second JaouiBacri venture, "Look at Me" ("Comme Une Image," but the French title...http://www.indiewire.com/people/people_050401agnes.html "Horns and Halos" Filmmakers Take DIY to the Next Level with Rumur Releasing- (Found June 24, 2008 ) Three titles are currently on the roster for recently formed New York-based distributor Rumur Releasing, spearheaded by "Horns and Halos" filmmakers, Michael Galinsky and Suki Hawley, as well as the 2002 doc's producers Jeff Sanders and David Beilinson. The experience with self-distributing the Toronto 2003 film, which follows an underground publisher's fight to re-publish a controversial George W. Bush biography, provided an impetus to take on distribution. Brian Brooks reports....http://www.indiewire.com/people/people_050818rumur.html DVD RE-RUN INTERVIEW: The Mumblecore Movement Andrew Bujalski On His "Funny Ha Ha"- (Found June 24, 2008 ) The memorably misleading title of Andrew Bujalski's debut cheapie seems to have just kept popping up everywhere over the past couple of years. Videotapes passes between friends, the odd festival screening, Sundance Channel playdates, the occasional Greencine-linked critical endorsement, "Funny Ha Ha"'s reputation certainly precedes it... Yet should any attuned cinephile wander into the theater expecting a definitive statement on twentysomething angst, they might be surprised by the...http://www.indiewire.com/people/people_050502bujalski.html From "Don't Look Back" to "After Innocence": A New Book Explores Documentary Filmmaking with Directors, Cinematographers, Editors- (Found June 24, 2008 ) A lot has been written about documentary film in years past, but a smart new book by Megan Cunningham lets the filmmakers themselves do the talking in an open, freewheeling format that seems to mimic the organic nature of direct cinema itself. "The Art of the Documentary," published by New Riders Press, offers 368 pages of enlightening conversations with a diverse group of accomplished directors, cinematographers and editors, at a paperback list price of $44.99. Jonny Leahan reports...http://www.indiewire.com/people/people_050825doc.html DVD RE-RUN INTERVIEW: Exploring Masculinity and Modern Views of Israeli's, Eytan Fox Discusses "Walk on Water"- (Found June 24, 2008 ) Eytan Fox's "Walk on Water" is an action filmcharacter study about Eyal (Lior Ashkenazi of "Late Marriage"), a Nazi hunter, who befriends the gay grandson Axel (Knut Berger) of the man he is assigned to kill. Yet Fox, who helmed the poignant DV "Yossi and Jagger", about two Israeli soldiers having a secret affair, avoided the temptation to make "Walk on Water" a slick romantic political thriller. Instead, he, along with his longterm companion Gal Uchovsky.http://www.indiewire.com/people/people_050303walk.html Graham Leggat Named New Executive Director of the San Francisco Film Society- (Found June 24, 2008 ) Graham Leggat, who currently serves as director of communications at the Film Society of Lincoln Center, has been appointed the new executive director of the San Francisco Film Society effective October 17th, the organization announced Wednesday. Leggat replaces Roxanne Messina Captor, who departed from the position following the 48th San Francisco International Film Festival last May. The group organizes the annual festival, which will be held April 20 - May 4 in 2006. Brian Brooks reports....http://www.indiewire.com/people/people_050901graham.html Sighs and Whispers: Chatting with Phil Morrison about "Junebug"- (Found June 24, 2008 ) For filmgoers this is a week of embarrassing riches. Yet for Phil Morrison, such gifts could also be seen as a severe case of bad timing. Ever since I first saw "Junebug" back at the New DirectorsNew Films festival this last spring in New York, I wondered when this wondrous American original would be released. Yet, here's an exciting new voice in an independent American cinema at a time when we really need it. Here, Morrison reveals why his film is able to tap into such deep...http://www.indiewire.com/people/people_050805phil.html |