Filmmaker. Summer 07.

No, Steve Buscemi is not one of Filmmaker's "25 New Faces of Independent Film." That's one face that's been around; but chances are you'll have seen one or two of the 25 new ones, too - a few names at least will ring a bell. But of course the point of the feature is to introduce us to faces and names we don't know - yet.

"In the current debate over the Iraq war, Charles Ferguson's debut documentary, No End in Sight, takes what is perhaps the most troubling position of all: the war could have gone right." Scott Macaulay talks with Ferguson about "making a first doc, post-Michael Moore political filmmaking and the future of Iraq."

Updated.

Jason Guerrasio talks with Jason Kohn about Manda Bala (Send a Bullet), which "has three main threads. One centers on the corrupt politician Jader Barbalho, who created the largest frog farm in the world for money-laundering purposes. Another looks at plastic surgeon Dr Juarez Avelar, who has performed miracles for deformed former captives by reconstructing the ears their kidnappers have sliced off. Finally, we meet a kidnapper, 'Magrinho,' who puts the whole film in perspective when he says, 'You either steal with a gun or a pen.'"

Peter Bowen talks with George Ratliff about Joshua - and its lead, Jacob Kogan: "He seems to have read everything that we have read and seen all of the same movies, but he is only 10. One of the most amazing things is how quick Jacob was. The character is a piano protégé, but Jacob did not play any piano, and in two weeks he learned to play a Beethoven sonata that would have been difficult for most adults."

James Ponsoldt talks with Werner Herzog about Rescue Dawn: "It's the physicality of the jungle that attracts me — the looming and dangerous beauty in it. But I've never used a jungle as a scenic backdrop. It's always somehow like an inner landscape, like fever dreams of a landscape."

"[M]aking the credits, grants, refunds and rebates work for an independent film demands a very close inspection of a state's tax incentive program and, just as important, the specific needs of one's production." Alicia Van Couvering peers into the labyrinth.

Updates: Anthony Kaufman adds a note to his piece in the print version on "the ongoing clusterfuck of indie film."

Matt Dentler spots several SXSW alumni among the 25 new faces.

The Oregonian's Shawn Levy spots two from his corner of the country.

Posted by dwhudson at July 18, 2007 4:29 AM