FILM

Alexander Abaturov on Paradise

Every summer, the front pages of newspapers around the world are filled with images of wildfires. Burning through millions of acres of land a year,

Ken August Meyer on Angel Applicant

After being diagnosed with systemic scleroderma, a rare autoimmune disease, filmmaker Ken August Meyer found himself reexamining the works of 20th century Swiss-German artist Paul

Femme: A Genre-bending, Neo-Noir, Queer Thriller Feature Film

If you’re not familiar with the neo-noir, queer thriller genre, you’re about to be. FRONTRUNNER meets directors Sam Freeman and Ng Choon Ping, exploring groundbreaking onscreen territory with their debut feature film.

FRONTRUNNER Meets Filmmaker Milorad Krstic

Name an art form, and Milorad Krstic will have studied and mastered it. He is a Slovenian painter, film director, visual artist, sculptor, author, illustrator,

Director Oliver Murray on ‘RONNIE’S’

In his latest documentary film, RONNIE’S, writer-director Oliver Murray chronicles the life story of Ronnie Scott, the legendary founder of his eponymous jazz club in London.

Jean-Jacques Annaud: The FRONTRUNNER Interview

Acclaimed director Jean-Jacques Annaud speaks to FRONTRUNNER about history, the admiration of faith, the magic of cinema, and his newest film, Notre Dame on Fire.

Jessica Kingdon on her Debut Documentary: Ascension

When someone says “The American Dream”, we think of a white picket fence. But the expression “Chinese Dream”? We won’t know where to begin. ASCENSION is director Jessica Kingdon’s debut documentary feature.

Alex Hassell on Joel Coen’s ‘Tragedy of Macbeth’

Alex Hassell’s resumé is admirable. With so many performances to discuss, we settle on Joel Coen’s ‘Tragedy of Macbeth’, where he plays alongside a few recognisable names such as Frances McDormand and Denzel Washington.

A FRONTRUNNER Exclusive: Director Alexander Nanau

Our FALL 2021 Cover Story: An interview with Romanian director Alexander Nanau on his double-Academy Award-nominated documentary feature, COLLECTIVE, and how national scandals can – and should – inspire public activism.

FRONTRUNNER Meets Artist & Filmmaker Shen Xin

Shen Xin’s work examines and fabricates techniques and effects of how emotion, politics, identity, gender and ethics circulate through individual and collective subjects.

FRONTRUNNER Meets Creative Polymath Johnny Flynn

Johnny Flynn, artistic polymath and true Renaissance man, wandered the Sacred Forest and explored the oldest piece of literature to find inspiration for his fifth album, Lost in the Cedar Wood.

When Worlds Collide: Kenny Scharf

FRONTRUNNER presents an exclusive interview with Malia Scharf and filmmaker Max Basch on their documentary When Worlds Collide: Kenny Scharf.

In Her Own Words: Octavia Spencer

FRONTRUNNER’S Winter 2021 Cover Feature: Oscar-Winning Actress and Producer Octavia Spencer, in her own words.

Adrien Brody: The FRONTRUNNER Interview

For our Fall 2020 cover feature, FRONTRUNNER presents an exclusive interview with Adrien Brody, and exclusive photography by Chad Moore.

A Look Behind Sunderland ‘Til I Die

FRONTRUNNER speaks to the creators of the Netflix series ‘Sunderland Till I Die’, revealing the trials and woes of the English football club.

A Close-Up With Hans Matheson

FRONTRUNNER shares a one-on-one with Scottish actor/musician Hans Matheson on life in the film industry and new frontiers into music-making.

Blackheads: A New Film by Emily Ann Hoffman

Emily Ann Hoffmann introduces her stop-motion animated film ‘Blackheads’, which made its digital premiere on MailChimp Presents SXSW 2020 Shorts.

A Q&A With British Filmmaker Toby Amies

British filmmaker Toby Aimes chats with FRONTRUNNER about his filmmaking process and a deep dive into documenting the progressive rock band King Crimson.

A Q&A With Kiwi Filmmaker Cathy MacDonald

Kiwi Writer/director Cathy MacDonald spent nearly a decade in the UK, writing and directing promos and commercials for everyone from Disney to the BBC.

FRONTRUNNER Meets Filmmaker Eliza Hittman

Never, Rarely, Sometimes, Always is Eliza Hittman’s third feature film, telling the story of a teenage girl forced to travel from rural Pennsylvania to New York City to access an abortion.

Katie Armstrong at The Armory Show (and Beyond)

Katie Armstrong is a multi-disciplinary animator who hand-paints frames, writes poetry, sings songs, and plays the music which all comprise her video works. FRONTRUNNER saw her incredible work on display at The Armory Show 2020.

Shadow Flowers at the IDFA Film Festival 2019

The documentary Shadow Flowers tells the story of a North Korean housewife, Ryun-hee Kim, who involuntarily becomes a South Korean citizen. Duped by a Chinese broker, she travels to South Korea to earn money.

A Q&A with BURDEN Director Andrew Heckler

Facts transmit their own kind of alchemy to a story. A writer easily could have invented the plot of Andrew Heckler’s debut film BURDEN, but we’d never believe it.

London Korean Film Festival Part II: Freckles

Sentenced to her Summer holidays in a fat camp by her absent parents, bashful Young-shin experiences a sexual awakening. Freckles (주근깨) is a bittersweet tale of first love quickly found and painfully lost.

London Korean Film Festival Part I: The Stars Whisper

Hard-of-hearing Yeon-hee reluctantly starts at a new school. She makes an awkward first impression in class, garnering the attention of the fanciful Young-jin. When they bunk off school and spend the day together, an inevitable romance blossoms.

Richard Serra: The Complete Films and Videos

Best known for his industrial sculptures and metal work, Richard Serra first picked up a 16mm camera only two years after completing his first physical artwork. That first film, Hand Catching Lead (1968), kicked off the complete retrospective of his film and video work at New York’s Anthology Film Archives, this October.

Faith Soloway: The FRONTRUNNER Interview

A FRONTRUNNER Exclusive: Jameson Rich interviews Faith Soloway on ‘Transparent’, Jewish influences, the use of humor when tackling serious issues, and whether the form of the movie-musical can still survive.

FRONTRUNNER Film Review: Inna De Yard

On the green landscapes of Kingston highs, a band of singers gather up for the record of a new album. More than 30 years after their golden age, they are back on a World Tour. Inna De Yard is the human adventure of men and women who embody Reggae and wear Jamaica’s soul as a banner.

The Afterlife Goes On: Jim Jarmusch’s ‘The Dead Don’t Die’

In the sleepy town of Centerville, something is not quite right. The moon hangs large and low in the sky, the hours of daylight are becoming unpredictable, and animals are beginning to exhibit unusual behaviors. No one quite knows why. But no one foresees the strangest and most dangerous repercussion that will soon start plaguing Centerville: The Dead Don’t Die.

An Interview With Raindance Film Festival Founder Elliot Grove

The Raindance Film Festival was founded in 1992 by Elliot Grove as a thought experiment: can you make a film with no money, no training and no experience? Based in the heart of London, Raindance combines Raindance Film Festival, training courses, and BIFA (British Independent Film Awards).

Not Quite A Happy Birthday: A Look at Short Film ‘Peggy’

We all like to imagine what would happen if we could read people’s minds. Peggy (Or: The Art of Coveting in the Age of Social Media) gives us an idea of this, with all the local parents in a community going to a child’s birthday party.

Music, Movies, Meaning: Will Bates of Fall On Your Sword

Fall On Your Sword is home to composer and founder Will Bates and executive producer Lucy Alper. They create music for film, television, and branded advertising alongside interactive art installations, namely, with the SPRING BREAK Art Show.

All The World’s A Stage: In Review

In what can nearly be described as a fairy tale of the theatre, All The World’s A Stage is the story of a brilliant actor beloved because of his special crown.

Praise Be…for ‘Sacred Hair’

A boy has a chance encounter with a young woman from a different culture than his, but the two learn that they share a common bond: their hair and the sacred nature culture and society places upon it.

A ‘Madre’ (Mother) of a Thriller

While at home in her apartment with her own mother in Spain, a woman gets a phone call from her six-year-old son, who’s on vacation in France with his father. What ensues is an expertly crafted and uncommonly intense thriller based on every parent’s nightmare.

Bonboné: A Palestinian Love Story

Rakan Mayasi’s short film Bonbone tells the story of two lovers who come up with an unconventional way to have a child when the husband is imprisoned in an Israeli jail.

Investigating the Documentary Film Industry at IDFA Amsterdam 2018

Producing a documentary film, whether a short film, television broadcast, or theatrical feature is no small accomplishment. But, as we know from past columns and interviews with filmmakers, this is only half the battle. The second half is equally daunting: distribution.

Wale: An Interview With Director Barnaby Blackburn

Wale tells the story of a young boy in London who is trying to get his life on the right track, but finds himself at the mercy of a sinister plot. It has been screened at the Arizona Film Festival, the Brooklyn Film Festival and the Norwich Film Festival.

Gogol’s ‘The Overcoat’: Reimagined

Nikolai Gogol’s classic short story, “The Overcoat,” is retold in a visually stunning film of the same name. In a story that takes the classic proverb, “Clothes make the man” to heart.

Frankly Frank: A Look at the Films Of Frank Mosley

Director Frank Mosley exposes the raw intimacy of human interaction in its purest form. His work is able to capture the closeness of upending relationships colorfully in a cinematic style.

Interview with filmmaker Shelby Hadden about Tightly Wound

I think writing the essay, making this film, talking about my experiences, and helping others has been instrumental in my healing journey. I think it gave me a lot of confidence and hope in my physical and emotional progress.

Dreaming of Dance in Florence Winter Hill’s Elle

Trust your gut, if you love something – do it and fight for your dreams even if they seem impossible.  Elle is my battle cry to children to inspire them to keep going in what they love – no matter what gets in the way.

Helen O’Hanlon: Mirette

I saw that there was little or no live action footage of wire walking so set about researching the art form more.  This led me to find Mirette On the High Wire.

Filmmaker Kevin Wilson Jr. on ‘My Nephew Emmett’

We can turn on the news every day and see images of black men and women being gunned down or beaten by the police.  As I was writing my script, I began to grow tired of those images and felt they didn’t serve any purpose or elevate black people in any way.

Interview with filmmaker Qiu Yang: A Gentle Night

I don’t believe life always has a resolution for you. Especially when you live in a country like China. Things you set out to do or problem you set out to solve, don’t always have a solution in the end.

Stéphanie Gicquel: Across Antarctica

You can be in the best physical condition, but if you cannot fund the expedition, you will stay home. You can have the best logistics on the starting line, if you are not physically prepared to survive in Antarctica, you will likely be home sooner than expected.

Sing: A Q&A With Director Kristof Deak

“I like to think of it as an ode to the power of standing up united. A study of how ‘divide and conquer’ works on a small scale and how it could be defeated in an ideal world,” says film director Kristof Deak.

Tyler Hubby: Transforming the Documentary

I wanted his works to take the foreground but found myself having to create a few visual motifs for some of the music compositions so I tried to make visuals that are more abstract and open-ended that wouldn’t take the viewer’s focus off the music but might give them some subtext for the composition.

Alexandra Liveris: A Persistence of Vision

The film balances Calatrava as artist, architect, and engineer. But, most importantly, asks more questions than leaves answers. Is enigma a part of the art? Must we inhabit something in order to create it? What is it to find our own language, independent from schools or tendencies?

Juanjo Giménez Peña: Timecode

After an accident report obliges Luna to watch old security footage, she notices that Diego secretly likes to dance when he thinks nobody is watching, instigating a series of the two making pseudo-dance videos for each other to watch on the security camera, which they access through the use of the titular timecode.

Chris Myers: Guap. A Comedy. About Gentrification.

We’re living in a New New York, and films set in this New New York have a gloss that I don’t think is what the origin of film in New York is about. I’m not into nostalgia, or even that into tradition, but I am into ethos.

Doran Danoff & Edward Symes: Black Magic Piano

This thing is very out, it’s very avant-garde, it’s very art house. We just did it. We were just doing what we wanted to do. It was free. It was totally creative.

Dianne Griffin & Erica Jordan: Painted Nails

We believe Van’s story is extra poignant because she is an immigrant and came to the United States with the assumption that she would be working in a safe environment. Audiences are very inspired by Van’s journey, because she transforms from a nail salon worker to an advocate.

Dustin Grella: Time & Movement

This process forces me to continue drawing, and not get distracted by operating the camera or deciding when the next frame will be captured.

Luke Lorentzen: Santa Cruz del Islote

I wanted the film to be much more of a character piece than a broad statement regarding global issues of environmentalism. As a filmmaker, it’s great to see the film function in a variety of contexts and with a variety of messages depending on what perspective the viewer brings to the film.

Max Good: Vigilante Vigilante

I respect both sides’ willingness to go outside the accepted legal channels to express themselves, but the buffers seem to think they have societal support behind them.

J. Christian Jensen: White Earth

I’ll never forget the feeling of driving through the oil fields at night for the first time. It was like an otherworldly invasion with lights from oil rigs beaming in distant wheat fields and flames bursting out of the ground.

Greg Stimac: Americana

My work is a study and meditation into the slippery notion of American identity, quietly for myself to process, and publicly to contribute what the process yields.

Ben Saunders: Scott Expedition Redux

Ben Saunders embarks on a 1,800-mile journey on foot to the South Pole to retrace the ill-fated Terra Nova Expedition led a century ago by Captain Robert Falcon Scott.

Leslie Tai: Grave Goods Documentary Film Interview

Leslie Tai is a second-generation Chinese-American filmmaker. In her short documentary film, Grave Goods, the director pays homage to her grandmother with a sensitive reflection on mourning and remembrance.

“Hearts of Courage” Documentary Supports Rwanda

Michael Fasciano is a filmmaker and media strategist who recently completed his latest documentary, Hearts of Courage. The short film follows the medical group Team Heart. The film covers their mission and annual surgical trip to Rwanda.

There She Is – a documentary film preview

They love makeup, fashion, and anything that sparkles. However, unlike Miss America, at a size 22 the only doors open to them are in the plus size pageant world…