Tarzan and Arab are budding filmmakers from the Gaza strip. The identical twins (who studied fine art and photography) have never seen in a movie in a theater, or been in a gallery. In fact, until last month, they had never left Gaza. Inviting them to the Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas proved to be a "colourful journey", which is also the title of their short movie (trailer) about Palestinian infighting. Short interview with the brothers (includes tips about filming in Gaza). Longer interview (about inspiration and hopes, includes the full short). Via AintItCool, where additional info can be found about their current stay in the US.
posted by elgilito on Oct 24, 2011 - 2 comments

Star Wars Begins. Fan documentarian Jambe Davdar has completed has completed his third documentary about the original Star Wars trilogy. He's re-cut all three films, editing in alternate takes, deleted scenes, original audio, with quotes from various interviews and commentaries and recordings playing over the footage like the ultimate DVD commentary. [via] [more inside]
posted by crossoverman on Feb 5, 2011 - 53 comments

Three new ways of thinking about David Cronenberg (director of Videodrome, Dead Ringers, etc.). A documentary filmmaker, an avant-garde filmmaker, or maybe just a guy who looks at couples and probably wonders what they look like having sex. Kind of par for the course.
posted by Joe Hutch on Mar 20, 2006 - 45 comments

xixax is a film community/bulletin board. In addition to forums for new films (released and rumored), stuff on DVD, and tech goodies for filmmakers, they've got director forums for Wes and PT Anderson, Scorsese, Lynch, the Coens, Soderbergh and many others.
posted by You Should See the Other Guy on Dec 27, 2004 - 2 comments

Haifaa al-Mansour might be the only active female Saudi filmmaker in existence. Her film recently debuted at a festival in the United Arab Emirates, and although it didn't win, it did create quite a stir among the attendees. Her father, also a director, and her family helped her get the project off the ground in a country where some believe even owning a television set is a sin, and where women have very little opportunity outside the home. Using the web as a means of distribution, al-Mansour hopes to someday see her creations on the big screen all over the world.
posted by greengrl on May 29, 2003 - 7 comments

"ooh, what a lovely tea party"... I know this link will attract a ton of "Kevin Smith is an overrated hack" posts, but I was surprised it wasn't here already. The second Internet Only trailer for "Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back" is up, and the server load has calmed down to the point where it can actually be downloaded. As could be expected, this will make Smith fans cheer and bounce up and down in their chairs, and Smith hatas shake their heads and look for the nearest web forum to post comments about their disgust.

Amusingly, the latter part of that paragraph is apparently a major plot point of the movie, and if you read today's "talk-backs" on AICN you'll appreciate how much fun Smith is having with it. Can't wait to see the flick, and to add to the fun it comes out on my birthday. Nootch.
posted by GriffX on Jun 22, 2001 - 4 comments