Shortly before the 2008 presidential election that put the first American black president into office, Jeff Deutchman used social networks to ask amateur and professional independent filmmakers to document experiences of voters and campaign volunteers on the day of national voting. “It was an experiment in crowd-sourcing footage and material for a documentary film about … Read more
For the astute viewer, understanding what the Gaga dance movement language involves is clarified by the opening and closing scenes of Mr. Gaga, a fully absorbing documentary about Israeli choreographer Ohad Naharin. The film opens with a dancer who is following Naharin’s instructions on how to execute a collapse backward onto the floor. She repeats … Read more
UPDATE: Street Fighting Men is an official selection in the 2018 Big Sky Documentary Film Festival (Feb. 16-25), which will take place in Missoula, Montana. The Utah Film Center also has slated screenings Feb. 1 in West Jordan, Feb. 21 in Ogden and Feb. 27 in Orem. In July 2020, the film is available on … Read more
There is no doubt, especially in the last half dozen years, that the artistic ideals of LGBTQ cinema not only successfully promulgate new perspectives in the mainstream but also highlight incisive takes that push the film traditions of character, director, auteur and audience well beyond conventional binary-based boundaries. Today’s stories emphasize themes of inclusion, openness … Read more
The Utah Film Center’s Damn These Heels LGBTQ Film Festival offers the largest, most cosmopolitan lineup ever in its 14-year history. Utah filmgoers have a rare opportunity to see some of the best examples of LGBTQ cinema today, as 21 films are receiving their Utah premieres. The Utah Review screened many of the films in … Read more
Fifteen awards were announced today in the Fear No Film portion of the Utah Arts Festival, including a Grand Jury Prize, Utah Short Film of The Year, Fear No Filmmaker Award, three honorable mentions and the best short film in each of the seven ‘memory’ categories around which the film festival was organized as well … Read more
Spy Hop Productions’ partnership with the Utah Arts Festival has evolved through the years, mainly because of the national youth media group’s penchant for adventurous projects that push the creative boundaries of festival visitors much in the same way the organization’s mentors encourage their students to be as bold as possible. This year, Spy Hop … Read more
For the 15th annual Fear No Film portion of the Utah Arts Festival, curator Topher Horman has crafted seven sequences of presentations in the most intriguing interpretations of the various ways in which memories are constructed, sustained, reshaped and anticipated. Each program is described below. ROLLING MEMORIES (June 22, 2 p.m.; June 24, 6 p.m.) … Read more
The Utah Short Film of the Year competition at the Utah Arts Festival has become more rigorous in recent years, as local filmmakers are making more adventurous films that especially show audiences outside of the state the high quality of independent film creativity. Four of this year’s seven entries already have established a national, if … Read more
The first book in Homer’s The Iliad, written more than 2,800 years ago, opens with, ‘Sing, O goddess, the anger of Achilles, son of Peleus, that brought countless ills upon the Achaeans.’ With that line, Homer created the Western literary tradition. The Iliad also was the first work signifying the value and instruction of memory … Read more