http://www.backstage.com/bso/news_revie ... 1002235158
Tribeca Fest Goes Long on Short Films
NEW YORK -- The Tribeca Film Festival has unveiled a long list of short films in competition, including documentaries on Don Cheadle and Elvis Costello, a film directed by actress Melissa Joan Hart and another starring Oscar nominee David Strathairn.
The 76 films, culled from about 2,150 submissions, will appear in the narrative, documentary and student competition categories.
"People have a tendency to stereotype shorts as being a means to an end (for filmmakers to) eventually produce a full-length feature," exec director Peter Scarlet said. "On the contrary, these short films stand on their own."
The narrative selections include Hart's black comedy "Mute"; Nick Childs' mystery "The Shovel," starring Strathairn; musician Laurie Anderson's episodic "Hidden Inside Mountains"; and the drama "Spanish Boots," from Domenica Cameron-Scorsese, daughter of Martin Scorsese.
The docu program features Rick Wilkinson's chronicle of Cheadle's trip to Africa, "Journey Into Sunset"; Abbas Kiarostami's experimental "Roads of Kiarostami"; Steven Lippman's Roseanne Cash biopic "Mariners and Musicians"; and Matthew Buzzell's look at Costello's New Orleans recording session, "Putting the River in Reverse."
Maybe this documentary will feature on the Bonus DVD of TRIR.
documentary on EC
-
sweetest punch
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documentary on EC
Since you put me down, it seems i've been very gloomy. You may laugh but pretty girls look right through me.
Re: documentary on EC
sweetest punch wrote:http://www.backstage.com/bso/news_revie ... 1002235158
Tribeca Fest Goes Long on Short Films
NEW YORK -- The Tribeca Film Festival has unveiled a long list of short films in competition, including documentaries on Don Cheadle and Elvis Costello, a film directed by actress Melissa Joan Hart and another starring Oscar nominee David Strathairn.
Please oh please let the title be "Clarissa Explains Costello"
http://www.fullframefest.org/about/index.php
Every spring Full Frame welcomes filmmakers and film lovers from around the world to the historic Carolina Theatre in downtown Durham, North Carolina, for a four-day, morning-to-midnight smorgasbord of:
* More than 100 films (both curated and submitted for competition)
* Panel discussions
* Seminars
* Q&A sessions
* And southern hospitality!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.fullframefest.org/festival/f ... filmid=109
Putting the River in Reverse
Sunday, April 9
11:45AM — Civic Center
USA — 2006, 33 min.
Directed by Matthew Buzzell. Produced by Brian Gerber.
Music legend Elvis Costello journeys to New Orleans to celebrate the songbook and spirit of the hurricane-battered city's Renaissance man, Allen Toussaint. With the Katrina-exiled Toussaint at the piano and the two gentlemen's bands merged, their efforts yield not just a joyous musical meeting but the revelation of a profound, stoic hope and the realization of the first major post-Katrina recording session to take place not just in the city of New Orleans, but on the edge of the 9th Ward. Their relationship to their music and to each other infuses this performance piece with a special tenderness that will be remembered well after New Orleans has been rebuilt.
Program — Southern Sidebar: Katrina
World Premiere
Every spring Full Frame welcomes filmmakers and film lovers from around the world to the historic Carolina Theatre in downtown Durham, North Carolina, for a four-day, morning-to-midnight smorgasbord of:
* More than 100 films (both curated and submitted for competition)
* Panel discussions
* Seminars
* Q&A sessions
* And southern hospitality!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.fullframefest.org/festival/f ... filmid=109
Putting the River in Reverse
Sunday, April 9
11:45AM — Civic Center
USA — 2006, 33 min.
Directed by Matthew Buzzell. Produced by Brian Gerber.
Music legend Elvis Costello journeys to New Orleans to celebrate the songbook and spirit of the hurricane-battered city's Renaissance man, Allen Toussaint. With the Katrina-exiled Toussaint at the piano and the two gentlemen's bands merged, their efforts yield not just a joyous musical meeting but the revelation of a profound, stoic hope and the realization of the first major post-Katrina recording session to take place not just in the city of New Orleans, but on the edge of the 9th Ward. Their relationship to their music and to each other infuses this performance piece with a special tenderness that will be remembered well after New Orleans has been rebuilt.
Program — Southern Sidebar: Katrina
World Premiere
http://www.tribecafilmfestival.org/tixS ... 14¬epg=
2006 Tribeca Film Festival, New York
Putting the River in Reverse
precedes From Dust
Shorts in Competition - Documentary
[FROMD] 2006 32 min
U.S.A.
Directed By: Matthew Buzzell
In November 2005, just three months after Hurricane Katrina had devastated New Orleans, English pop maestro Elvis Costello joined local R&B legend Allen Toussaint in a Crescent City recording studio to undertake the first major New Orleans recording sessions since Katrina made landfall. Filmmaker Matthew Buzzell was on hand to document the proceedings, which resulted in a Joe Henry-produced album entitled The River in Reverse.
SCREENING SCHEDULE
Wed, Apr 26 / 3:15 pm
AMC Loews Lincoln Sq 4
$12
Fri, Apr 28 / 7:45 pm
AMC Loews 34th Street 11
$12
Sun, Apr 30 / 3:45 pm
AMC Loews Lincoln Sq 5
$12
Tue, May 2 / Noon
AMC Loews 34th Street 9
$12
Fri, May 5 / 7:30 pm
AMC Loews Village VII 1
$12
2006 Tribeca Film Festival, New York
Putting the River in Reverse
precedes From Dust
Shorts in Competition - Documentary
[FROMD] 2006 32 min
U.S.A.
Directed By: Matthew Buzzell
In November 2005, just three months after Hurricane Katrina had devastated New Orleans, English pop maestro Elvis Costello joined local R&B legend Allen Toussaint in a Crescent City recording studio to undertake the first major New Orleans recording sessions since Katrina made landfall. Filmmaker Matthew Buzzell was on hand to document the proceedings, which resulted in a Joe Henry-produced album entitled The River in Reverse.
SCREENING SCHEDULE
Wed, Apr 26 / 3:15 pm
AMC Loews Lincoln Sq 4
$12
Fri, Apr 28 / 7:45 pm
AMC Loews 34th Street 11
$12
Sun, Apr 30 / 3:45 pm
AMC Loews Lincoln Sq 5
$12
Tue, May 2 / Noon
AMC Loews 34th Street 9
$12
Fri, May 5 / 7:30 pm
AMC Loews Village VII 1
$12
http://www.indyweek.com/gyrobase/Conten ... id%3A30029
( extract)
APRIL 5, 2006
Take it personally
Music at Full Frame
BY GRAYSON CURRIN
It's not a revelation, just a reminder: Sometimes the best documentaries work because they are personal. The best documentaries have the unique power to be educational and inspiring.
This year, the music documentaries that will work best at Full Frame--Beyond Beats and Rhymes, two headed cow and To Be Continued--are successful because they do just that, honing in close on their subjects and not letting go until some real nugget rattles loose. Of those, To Be Continued is the only film that is part of this year's Hurricane Katrina programming. Of the other two Katrina films about New Orleans music, the Elvis Costello and Allen Toussaint portrait Putting the River in Reverse falls far short, while the NOLA bands-on-the run decoupage New Orleans Music in Exile only misses by half.
Two other films--both part of the Katrina programming--fail to establish the intimacy and commitment of Beyond Beats. Particularly disappointing is Putting the River in Reverse, a film about a post-hurricane collaboration between legendaryrhythm 'n' blues songwriter and producer Allen Toussaint and New Wave-and-then-some rocker Elvis Costello. And there's too much to take in in New Orleans Music in Exile, an effective but busy film featuring The Iguanas, Irma Thomas, Eddie Bo, Cyril Neville, World Leader Pretend and too many more telling the story of how they fled New Orleans and what their plans are for continuing as a band. No matter the strength of the musical performances or the intimacy of the scenes (as the credits roll, Costello lounges on a couch, singing as Toussaint taps the song out on a piano), both films feel cold and impersonal. With River,that's not surprising, as it will likely serve as a promotional bit for the release of the pair's album in June.
While the failings of Exile are perhaps the result of having too much, the lack of depth in the Costello-Toussaint pairing is as perplexing as it is disappointing.Toussaint begins to show through as something of a mystic, a warm-hearted man who runs his hands across antique furniture to feel its indelible memories, but Costello just seems like an uninteresting performer (he's anything but). Their relationship is treated at the surface, and a litany of questions remain at River's end: What brought them together? What are Toussaint's true feelings on his hometown and his government's betrayal? Why did it take a disaster for outsiders to evince their appreciation of his land's music? These issues are as important as the music itself, and they go unanswered in this sterile feature.
( extract)
APRIL 5, 2006
Take it personally
Music at Full Frame
BY GRAYSON CURRIN
It's not a revelation, just a reminder: Sometimes the best documentaries work because they are personal. The best documentaries have the unique power to be educational and inspiring.
This year, the music documentaries that will work best at Full Frame--Beyond Beats and Rhymes, two headed cow and To Be Continued--are successful because they do just that, honing in close on their subjects and not letting go until some real nugget rattles loose. Of those, To Be Continued is the only film that is part of this year's Hurricane Katrina programming. Of the other two Katrina films about New Orleans music, the Elvis Costello and Allen Toussaint portrait Putting the River in Reverse falls far short, while the NOLA bands-on-the run decoupage New Orleans Music in Exile only misses by half.
Two other films--both part of the Katrina programming--fail to establish the intimacy and commitment of Beyond Beats. Particularly disappointing is Putting the River in Reverse, a film about a post-hurricane collaboration between legendaryrhythm 'n' blues songwriter and producer Allen Toussaint and New Wave-and-then-some rocker Elvis Costello. And there's too much to take in in New Orleans Music in Exile, an effective but busy film featuring The Iguanas, Irma Thomas, Eddie Bo, Cyril Neville, World Leader Pretend and too many more telling the story of how they fled New Orleans and what their plans are for continuing as a band. No matter the strength of the musical performances or the intimacy of the scenes (as the credits roll, Costello lounges on a couch, singing as Toussaint taps the song out on a piano), both films feel cold and impersonal. With River,that's not surprising, as it will likely serve as a promotional bit for the release of the pair's album in June.
While the failings of Exile are perhaps the result of having too much, the lack of depth in the Costello-Toussaint pairing is as perplexing as it is disappointing.Toussaint begins to show through as something of a mystic, a warm-hearted man who runs his hands across antique furniture to feel its indelible memories, but Costello just seems like an uninteresting performer (he's anything but). Their relationship is treated at the surface, and a litany of questions remain at River's end: What brought them together? What are Toussaint's true feelings on his hometown and his government's betrayal? Why did it take a disaster for outsiders to evince their appreciation of his land's music? These issues are as important as the music itself, and they go unanswered in this sterile feature.
Here's my take on the EC/AT feature at Full Frame earlier today.
I have to agree with some of the criticisms levelled in the above piece. While it is a wonderful short feature that I recommend to EC fans who will be buying the River in Reverse on June 6, as a featured entry at a film festival it falls far short, especially when compared with the feature that followed it*. For a piece intended to be an adjunct to an album it works fine, but on its own it sheds very little light on EC, AT, Katrina, or anything else.
Still, for an EC fan, there are some great moments:
- Lots of footage of Elvis and the band in the studio. I love seeing footage like this, especially how Elvis uses his hands and mic position to get different 'voices'.
- Great shots of Elvis in baggage claim (!) at Armstrong International airport in N.O. He carries a bag that has 'Elvis' in large purple letters over his shoulder.
- The ending piece with Elvis singing Ascension Day while sitting casually on a couch with Allen playing piano next to him. His ability to remember long, complex lyrical passages will never cease to amaze me.
Bottom Line: Should be of interest to anyone who frequents this board, but as a piece of 'filmmaking' it is fairly underwhelming.
* Please check the Annex for a few thoughts on the film "To Be Continued", the story of a young brass band split up by the Hurricane and their dogged attempts to reunite. One of the most inspiring things I have ever seen.
I have to agree with some of the criticisms levelled in the above piece. While it is a wonderful short feature that I recommend to EC fans who will be buying the River in Reverse on June 6, as a featured entry at a film festival it falls far short, especially when compared with the feature that followed it*. For a piece intended to be an adjunct to an album it works fine, but on its own it sheds very little light on EC, AT, Katrina, or anything else.
Still, for an EC fan, there are some great moments:
- Lots of footage of Elvis and the band in the studio. I love seeing footage like this, especially how Elvis uses his hands and mic position to get different 'voices'.
- Great shots of Elvis in baggage claim (!) at Armstrong International airport in N.O. He carries a bag that has 'Elvis' in large purple letters over his shoulder.
- The ending piece with Elvis singing Ascension Day while sitting casually on a couch with Allen playing piano next to him. His ability to remember long, complex lyrical passages will never cease to amaze me.
Bottom Line: Should be of interest to anyone who frequents this board, but as a piece of 'filmmaking' it is fairly underwhelming.
* Please check the Annex for a few thoughts on the film "To Be Continued", the story of a young brass band split up by the Hurricane and their dogged attempts to reunite. One of the most inspiring things I have ever seen.
From listserv -
So, as I mentioned I would before, I went to the Tribeca Film Festival
screening of PUTTING THE RIVER IN REVERSE. The director Matthew
Buzzell spoke before the film and said "Mr. Costello" wanted to be
there but "his wife" was flying in that night, so he had gone to the
airport. Buzzell said he was not one to thwart love, so we would just
have to be satisfied with the film. And the film was just that:
satisfactory.
A bit of talking heads, some studio sessions, and not much depth. In
fact, any time the filmmaker tries to catch the musicians in candid
conversation with each other, the film is actually kind of boring.
Small talk is small talk whether delivered from the lips of your
neighbor, or the lips of a pair of the best singer-songwriters in the
world. Only a brief scene where Steve Nieve quietly studies Allen
Toussaint tickling the keys feels like a stolen moment worth savoring.
The songs are the real heart of the piece and when Buzzell sticks to
the songs, he's on solid ground. And in that respect, the
near-complete performance of "Who's Gonna Help Brother Get Further" is
the electric centerpiece of the film. The Tribeca website has a
2-minute clip of it, if you haven't already seen this clip:
http://www.tribecafilmfestival.org/tixS ... umber=4214
Right before the show started, I noticed Illeana Douglas sit a few
rows up from me. She was obviously there for Elvis, as she left (as
quite a few other people did) before the main feature started.
I stuck around (hey, I paid for it!), and the feature FROM DUST about
post-tsunami Sri Lanka started off shaky but by the end became a
pretty interesting trio of character studies, with a muckraking
subtext (the Sri Lankans who lived on the coastline are being forced
away from the beach "for their safety," and told to rebuild elsewhere.
Meanwhile, the government uses these "safety precautions" as an
opportunity to sell that primo beachfront property to corporations and
tourist resorts).
All in all, a good night at the pictures.
Justin
So, as I mentioned I would before, I went to the Tribeca Film Festival
screening of PUTTING THE RIVER IN REVERSE. The director Matthew
Buzzell spoke before the film and said "Mr. Costello" wanted to be
there but "his wife" was flying in that night, so he had gone to the
airport. Buzzell said he was not one to thwart love, so we would just
have to be satisfied with the film. And the film was just that:
satisfactory.
A bit of talking heads, some studio sessions, and not much depth. In
fact, any time the filmmaker tries to catch the musicians in candid
conversation with each other, the film is actually kind of boring.
Small talk is small talk whether delivered from the lips of your
neighbor, or the lips of a pair of the best singer-songwriters in the
world. Only a brief scene where Steve Nieve quietly studies Allen
Toussaint tickling the keys feels like a stolen moment worth savoring.
The songs are the real heart of the piece and when Buzzell sticks to
the songs, he's on solid ground. And in that respect, the
near-complete performance of "Who's Gonna Help Brother Get Further" is
the electric centerpiece of the film. The Tribeca website has a
2-minute clip of it, if you haven't already seen this clip:
http://www.tribecafilmfestival.org/tixS ... umber=4214
Right before the show started, I noticed Illeana Douglas sit a few
rows up from me. She was obviously there for Elvis, as she left (as
quite a few other people did) before the main feature started.
I stuck around (hey, I paid for it!), and the feature FROM DUST about
post-tsunami Sri Lanka started off shaky but by the end became a
pretty interesting trio of character studies, with a muckraking
subtext (the Sri Lankans who lived on the coastline are being forced
away from the beach "for their safety," and told to rebuild elsewhere.
Meanwhile, the government uses these "safety precautions" as an
opportunity to sell that primo beachfront property to corporations and
tourist resorts).
All in all, a good night at the pictures.
Justin