The San Francisco Film Society (SFFS) and Kenneth Rainin Foundation (KRF) have selected 15 finalists for the latest round of SFFS / KRF Filmmaking Grants; more than $300,000 will be awarded to one or more narrative feature film projects at any stage of production. SFFS / KRF Filmmaking Grants are awarded twice annually to narrative films that will have significant economic or professional impact on the Bay Area filmmaking community. More than $2 million has been awarded since the launch of the Film Society’s flagship grant program in 2009. Winners of the spring 2014 SFFS / KRF Grants will be announced in late April.

Previous grant winners include Destin Cretton’s Short Term 12, Bay Area native Ryan Coogler’s Fruitvale Station (which just took home the 2014 Film Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature), and Benh Zeitlin’s breakout Beasts of the Southern Wild.

“This is always an exciting time of year, when we get an early look at so many impressive projects at every stage of production,” said Michele Turnure-Salleo, director of Filmmaker360. “The talent on display here is inspiring, and it’s great to see so many new faces in the mix among the filmmakers we’ve worked with before. I’m particularly struck by the breadth of range in the subjects of these finalist projects, and it is immensely satisfying to see the increasingly international reach of our flagship grant program.”

SFFS / KRF Filmmaking Grants are made possible by the vision and generosity of the Kenneth Rainin Foundation. In addition to the cash grant, recipients will receive various benefits through Filmmaker360, the San Francisco Film Society’s comprehensive and dynamic filmmaker services program. These benefits, customized to every individual production, can include one-on-one project consultations and project feedback, additional fundraising assistance, resource and service recommendations, and networking opportunities, among many others

SPRING 2014 SFFS / KRF FILMMAKING GRANT FINALISTS

Ad Inexplorata
Mark Elijah Rosenberg, director; Josh Penn, producer — postproduction
Captain Stanaforth is a NASA pilot alone on a one-way mission toward the unknown.

Afronauts (Pictured at top)
Frances Bodomo, writer/director — screenwriting
In March 1965, the U.S. and the USSR rush to get the first man on the moon. Thousands of miles away, the Zambia Space Academy hopes to enter the race with their “spacegirl” Matha Mwamba. Based on true events.

Betamax
Terrie Samundra, writer/director; Xandra Castleton, producer — packaging
With the release of the first home video camcorder, a teenage Sikh boy and a squatter punk girl become unlikely friends and filmmaking collaborators. It’s complicated, but so is London, which is at the brink of race riots and a punk youth uprising in the summer of 1976.

Black Metal
Kat Candler, writer/director — screenwriting
After a career spent mining his music from the shadows, the lead singer of a metal band and his family experience a chain reaction of turmoil following the murderous actions of a teenage fan.

Chickenshit
Jessica dela Merced, writer/director — screenwriting
In struggling Detroit, a lonely middle-school girl befriends a daring group of boys who adventure through the ruins of the once majestic city. With their help, she devises a plan to track down and capture the arsonists responsible for a recent string of fires, including the one that claimed the life of her father.

Clash
Mohamed Diab, writer/director — screenwriting
In the wake of the recent Egyptian military coup, Hayman — a jaded, claustrophobic revolutionary — is stuck in an overcrowded truck with clashing brotherhood and military supporters. Engulfed in hatred and violence, he must learn to reconcile his love for Egypt in order to survive.

Five Nights in Maine
Maris Curran, writer/director/producer; Carly Hugo, producer — production
A young African American man, reeling from the tragic loss of his wife, travels to rural Maine to seek answers from his estranged mother-in-law, who is herself confronting guilt and grief over her daughter’s death.

The Fixer
Ian Olds, cowriter/director; Paul Felten, cowriter; Caroline von Kuhn and Lily Whitsitt, producers — preproduction
An Afghan journalist is exiled from his war-torn country to a small bohemian community in Northern California. When he attempts to turn his menial job on the local police blotter into “Afghan-style” coverage of local crime, he gets drawn into the underworld of this small town — a shadow Northern California where sex is casual, true friendship is hard to come by, and an unfamiliar form of violence burbles up all around him.

IO
Clay Jeter, writer/director; Jason Berman, producer — production
One of the last survivors on a post-cataclysmic Earth, the idealistic daughter of a famous scientist races to find a cure for her poisoned world before the final Exodus shuttle abandons the planet forever.

Mobile Homes
Vladimir de Fontenay, cowriter/director; Danielle Lessovitz, cowriter — screenwriting
A young runaway must decide between defending the life she knows with the man she loves and protecting her young son from them both.

Oscillate Wildly
Travis Matthews, cowriter/director; Keith Wilson, cowriter/producer — packaging
When his disability check arrives much reduced, a hot-headed young gay man with cerebral palsy is forced to confront the disability he has let define his whole being.

The Other Kids
Chris Brown, director/producer — postproduction
The Other Kids takes a raw, intimate look into the struggles of six small-town teenagers as they push through their final days of high school.

Our Lady of the Snow
Tom Gilroy, writer/director — Screenwriting
When the Bishop decides to sell a gothic convent isolated in the snowy woods, the elderly nuns living there begin to have ecstatic visions, which he dismisses as faked. But as the visions spread to the convent’s teenaged atheist cook, inexplicable supernatural events follow, with no one sure of their cause.

Patti Cake$
Geremy Jasper, writer/director/composer; Dan Janvey, producer — packaging
Patricia Baccio, aka Patti Cake$, is a big girl with a big mouth and big dreams of rap superstardom. Stuck in Lodi, New Jersey, Patti battles an army of haters as she strives to break the mold and take over the rap game.

Snow the Jones
Alistair Banks Griffin, writer/director/producer — production
When teenage vagabond Lexi joins a traveling door-to-door sales crew, she discovers a world much darker than the one from which she was trying to escape.

Steve McQueen’s 12 Years a Slave was unsurprisingly the big winner at the Film Independent Spirit Awards today with a total of five wins including, Best Feature, Best Director, Best Supporting Female, Best Cinematography, and Best Screenplay. There were some great acceptance speeches from Matthew McConaughey who had the most inspirational speech (yes, it began with “All right, all right, all right.”), Jared Leto who had the longest speech (it was so long they had to cut it in several places during broadcast to stay on time), and Cate Blanchett who mentioned the large elephant in the room. Blanchett used part of her acceptance speech to call out the fact that the Best Males category received six nominees and the Best Females category only got five. Furthermore, she asked the question everyone at home was wondering–if the voters missed seeing Greta Gerwig’s wonderful performance in Frances Ha.

Other winners included the magnificent Blue is the Warmest Color for Best International Film, Short Term 12 edged out Upstream Color for Best Editing, and the wonderfully understated This Is Martin Bonner received the John Cassavetes Award. The biggest surprise for the evening was Twenty Feet From Stardom winning for Best Documentary.

Full List of 2014 Independent Spirit Award Winners:

(Winners are highlighted in bold red font)

Best Feature:

12 Years A Slave
All Is Lost
Frances Ha
Inside Llewyn Davis
Nebraska

Best Director:

Shane Carruth – Upstream Color
J.C. Chandor – All Is Lost
Steve McQueen – 12 Years A Slave
Jeff Nichols – Mud
Alexander Payne – Nebraska

Best First Feature:

Blue Caprice
Concussion
Fruitvale Station
Una Noche
Wadjda

Best Male Lead:

Bruce Dern – Nebraska
Chiwetel Ejiofor – 12 Years A Slave
Oscar Isaac – Inside Llewyn Davis
Michael B. Jordan – Fruitvale Station
Matthew McConaughey – Dallas Buyers Club
Robert Redford – All Is Lost

Best Female Lead:

Cate Blanchett – Blue Jasmine
Julie Delpy – Before Midnight
Gaby Hoffmann – Crystal Fairy
Brie Larson – Short Term 12
Shailene Woodley – The Spectacular Now

Best Supporting Male:

Michael Fassbender – 12 Years A Slave
Will Forte – Nebraska
James Gandolfini – Enough Said
Jared Leto – Dallas Buyers Club
Keith Stanfield – Short Term 12

Best Supporting Female:

Melonie Diaz – Fruitvale Station
Sally Hawkins – Blue Jasmine
Lupita Nyong’o – 12 Years A Slave
Yolanda Ross – Go For Sisters
June Squibb – Nebraska

Best International Film: (Award given to the director)

A Touch of Sin
Blue is the Warmest Color
Gloria
The Great Beauty
The Hunt

Best Cinematography:

Sean Bobbitt – 12 Years a Slave
Benoit Debie – Spring Breakers
Bruno Delbonnel – Inside Llewyn Davis
Frank G. Demarco – All Is Lost
Matthias Grunsky – Computer Chess

Best Documentary:

The Act Of Killing
After Tiller
Gideon’s Army
The Square
Twenty Feet From Stardom

John Cassavetes Award: (Given to the best feature made for under $500,000; award given to the writer, director, and producer)

Computer Chess – Andrew Bujalski
Crystal Fairy – Sebastian Silva
Museum Hours – Jem Cohen
Pit Stop – Yen Tan
This Is Martin Bonner – Chad Hartigan

Best Editing:

Shane Carruth & David Lowery – Upstream Color
Jem Cohen & Marc Vives – Museum Hours
Jennifer Lame – Frances Ha
Cindy Lee – Una Noche
Nat Sanders – Short Term 12

Best Screenplay:

Woody Allen – Blue Jasmine
Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke, Richard Linklater – Before Midnight
Nicole Holofcener – Enough Said
Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber – The Spectacular Now
John Ridley – 12 Years a Slave

Best First Screenplay:

Lake Bell – In A World
Joseph Gordon-Levitt – Don Jon
Bob Nelson – Nebraska
Jill Soloway – Afternoon Delight
Michael Starburry – The Inevitable Defeat Of Mister & Pete

Robert Altman Award: (Given to one film’s director, casting director, and its ensemble cast)

Mud
Director: Jeff Nichols
Casting Director: Francine Maisler
Ensemble Cast: Joe Don Baker, Jacob Lofland, Matthew McConaughey, Ray McKinnon, Sarah Paulson, Michael Shannon, Sam Shepard, Tye Sheridan, Paul Sparks, Bonnie Sturdivant, Reese Witherspoon

Piaget Producers Award: (Award given to a producer)

Toby Halbrooks & James M. Johnson
Jacob Jaffke
Andrea Roa
Ferderick Thornton

Truer Than Fiction Award: (Award given to the director)

Kalyanee Mam – A River Changes Course
Jason Osder – Let The Fire Burn
Stephanie Spray & Pancho Valez – Manakamana

Someone to Watch Award: (Award given to the director)

Aaron Douglas Johnston – My Sister’s Quinceanera
Shaka King – Newlyweeds
Madeleine Olnek – The Foxy Merkins

If my predictions of the 2014 Film Independent Spirit Awards hold true (nobody hold their breath), 12 Years A Slave would walk away the big winner with a projected total of 5 awards. I believe the rest of the field will be much more spread out with Before Midnight, Nebraska, Upstream Color, Fruitvale Station, Blue Jasmine, and others going home with one award. After winning the Palm d’Or and taking the Cannes Film Festival by storm this year, Blue is the Warmest Color‘s momentum has started to slow down and may no longer the obvious frontrunner anymore. Though I am still picking it to win Best International Film here, it is against fierce competition.

For better or worse, I am posting my Spirit Award predictions one day ahead of the official announcement of Oscar nominees. In just 45 days the Spirit Award winners will be officially announced and will dictate whether or not I can beat my prediction accuracy from last year of 53% (7 out of 13). In addition to picking the winners for each category below, I explain the reasoning behind my picks in detail under the categories.

Watch IFC on Saturday, March 1st at 10PM ET to see how my predictions hold up.

List of 2014 Independent Spirit Award Predictions:

(My prediction for the winners are highlighted in bold red font)

Best Feature:

12 Years A Slave
All Is Lost
Frances Ha
Inside Llewyn Davis
Nebraska

Best Director:

Shane Carruth – Upstream Color
J.C. Chandor – All Is Lost
Steve McQueen – 12 Years A Slave
Jeff Nichols – Mud
Alexander Payne – Nebraska

Best First Feature:

Blue Caprice
Concussion
Fruitvale Station
Una Noche
Wadjda

Best Male Lead:

Bruce Dern – Nebraska
Chiwetel Ejiofor – 12 Years A Slave
Oscar Isaac – Inside Llewyn Davis
Michael B. Jordan – Fruitvale Station
Matthew McConaughey – Dallas Buyers Club
Robert Redford – All Is Lost

Best Female Lead:

Cate Blanchett – Blue Jasmine
Julie Delpy – Before Midnight
Gaby Hoffmann – Crystal Fairy
Brie Larson – Short Term 12
Shailene Woodley – The Spectacular Now

Best Supporting Male:

Michael Fassbender – 12 Years A Slave
Will Forte – Nebraska
James Gandolfini – Enough Said
Jared Leto – Dallas Buyers Club
Keith Stanfield – Short Term 12

Best Supporting Female:

Melonie Diaz – Fruitvale Station
Sally Hawkins – Blue Jasmine
Lupita Nyong’o – 12 Years A Slave
Yolanda Ross – Go For Sisters
June Squibb – Nebraska

Best International Film: (Award given to the director)

A Touch of Sin
Blue is the Warmest Color
Gloria
The Great Beauty
The Hunt

Best Cinematography:

Sean Bobbitt – 12 Years a Slave
Benoit Debie – Spring Breakers
Bruno Delbonnel – Inside Llewyn Davis
Frank G. Demarco – All Is Lost
Matthias Grunsky – Computer Chess

Best Documentary:

The Act Of Killing
After Tiller
Gideon’s Army
The Square
Twenty Feet From Stardom

John Cassavetes Award: (Given to the best feature made for under $500,000; award given to the writer, director, and producer)

Computer Chess – Andrew Bujalski
Crystal Fairy – Sebastian Silva
Museum Hours – Jem Cohen
Pit Stop – Yen Tan
This Is Martin Bonner – Chad Hartigan

Best Editing:

Shane Carruth & David Lowery – Upstream Color
Jem Cohen & Marc Vives – Museum Hours
Jennifer Lame – Frances Ha
Cindy Lee – Una Noche
Nat Sanders – Short Term 12

Best Screenplay:

Woody Allen – Blue Jasmine
Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke, Richard Linklater – Before Midnight
Nicole Holofcener – Enough Said
Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber – The Spectacular Now
John Ridley – 12 Years a Slave

Best First Screenplay:

Lake Bell – In A World
Joseph Gordon-Levitt – Don Jon
Bob Nelson – Nebraska
Jill Soloway – Afternoon Delight
Michael Starburry – The Inevitable Defeat Of Mister & Pete

2013 was filled with plenty of tremendous films, and just as many memorable moments. As a companion to our Best Films of 2013 list, we asked our staff to come up with some of their favorite moments in movies this year. Covering all our favorites would just take too much time, so below we have singled out a few moments (15 to be exact) that stuck in our heads the most throughout the year.

Way Too Indie’s Favorite Movie Scenes From 2013

Sex scene – Her

The story of a man falling in love with his computer is an absurd sitcom-ready premise, but through Spike Jonze’s vision it’s looked at in a disarming and surprisingly sincere light. When Theodore (Joaquin Phoenix) installs his new OS Samantha (voiced by Scarlett Johansson), their relationship feels naturally developed aside from the fact that Samantha doesn’t have a physical form. When Theodore, after going on a bad date, comes home and tells Samantha about it they finally act out on their feelings. Jonze avoids showing the sex scene, instead fading to black and letting the audience hear Theodore and Samantha make love. It’s a graceful move by Jonze, and a ballsy one to let the audience be left in the dark with only the sounds of the two leads moaning. But Phoenix and Johansson put in excellent performances, and the scene shows how, when you take everything else away, there’s an undeniably pure love between these characters. [CJ]

Oscar Grant Shooting Re-enactment – Fruitvale Station

One of the main reasons Fruitvale Station has touched a nerve with audiences across the world is the pervading air of authenticity: Like Oscar Grant, the film’s slain inspiration, director Ryan Coogler is a Bay Area native, and it was imperative to him that he shoot the film exclusively in the neighborhoods where Oscar lived his life. The tragic final moments of Oscar’s life (which were captured in real life by onlookers via camera phone) were spent face down on a BART platform until one of the police officers detaining him shot and killed him. Coogler and his crew filmed their reenactment in the exact spot it took place, with Michael B. Jordan, playing Oscar, laying his torso directly onto the bullet hole left from Oscar’s murder. His performance and Coogler’s direction make for a stunning, powerful cinematic moment. [Bernard]

The Hanging – 12 Years a Slave

Many parts of 12 Years a Slave are particularly hard to watch, but none was so impacting to me as when Solomon Northrup is strung up to a tree to hang after defending himself against an overseer who wrongfully attacked him. He escapes hanging but is left on his tippy toes gargling for breath for what seems like hours. Rather than show time passing by cutting away or letting the audience imagine how horrifying such a situation would be, director Steve McQueen forces us to watch as other slaves go about their business and the mistress of the plantation looks on, always hearing the low gurgle of a man literally barely holding on for life. Never as an audience member have I felt so helpless. This scene will likely hold its place in film school classes teaching the awful power of the camera’s gaze. [Ananda]

“Everytime” montage – Spring Breakers

Harmony Korine’s Spring Breakers is a visual delight. The 95 minute film feels like one giant montage that never ends. Korine uses all the tricks he can muster to attack your senses. Every scene is filled with bright colors and flashy editing set to the hypnotic score by electro whizzes Skrillex and Cliff Martinez. At times its sensory overload and can be hard to comprehend what we’re looking at. In the middle of all the debauchery Korine does manage to slow the film down for a treat for the ages. Alien (played by James Franco) sits poolside of his Floridian mansion, playing a white grand piano. His three new friends that he’s rescued from jail emerge with pink ski masks toting guns. They ask him to play a song and he indulges with a rendition of Britney Spears’ “Everytime”.

Just as we’re about to laugh at the scene because of how completely odd it is, the actual song by Spears fades in as we’re treated to a montage entirely in slow motion of Alien and the pink ski masked girls beating and robbing people violently. The scene must be seen to be believed. I’ll never forget sitting in the theater with a gigantic smile on my face as I watched Alien jumping on a bed with maniacal grin while the girls were giving a bunch of bros bloody lips. The scene comes at the perfect time in the film. For 60 minutes you are bombarded with eccentric images and just when you think you can’t take any more of it, Korine slows it all down for you. Just in time of course for the climax to explode all over the screen. [Blake]

Shower scene – Stoker

The scene that was most prominent to me this year was Chan-wook Park’s particular spark of controversial genius in Stoker. India (Mia Wasikowska), the 18 year old girl who is the focus of the film, struggles with the loss of her father (Dermot Mulroney) and becomes overly and inappropriately intrigued by her estranged uncle Charlie (Matthew Goode) who visits after his brother dies. The shower scene in which India masturbates in the midst of washing away the dirt and trauma of what she has just experienced, was not only initially confusing to myself, but was also totally shocking. Despite the scene being awkward at first, it juxtaposed the scenes that made up the disturbed realisation of the weakness and confusion India feels. [Amy]

Opening shot – The Place Beyond the Pines

The technical achievement of pulling off the elaborately choreographed three minute long continuous shot at the beginning of The Place Beyond the Pines is simply speculator. A muscular man paces back and forth while flipping his butterfly knife before a knock on his trailer door indicates that it is show time. The uninterrupted scene continues as the man grabs his jacket and begins to weave around games and tents that produce loud noises and bright lights at a carnival. Walking with clear determination, the man travels across the heavily populated fairground to a tent where a large crowd of people is gathered to cheer for him. The announcer introduces the heartthrob over the loudspeaker as he proceeds to get on his motorcycle. Just before he puts on his helmet we see his face for the first time. After a few thrusts of his engine he joins two other stuntmen in a metal cage where they ride upside-down, narrowly missing one another. This tracking sequence establishes the confident personality of Ryan Gosling’s character, as well as getting a taste of what his character is capable of on a motorcycle—both of which are relevant during the course of the film. [Dustin]

The Birds – Leviathan

The beauty and terror of Leviathan could be easily summed up in the astounding shot that closes the film. At night the camera, presumably tied to the back of a ship, is bobbing up and down in the ocean as dozens of birds are flying around. The footage is flipped 180 degrees, making everything upside down. Pitch-black ocean, only identified by the brief glimpses of crashing waves, is now sky as we view multitudes of small, moving white lines float underneath it. It’s a disorienting image, one that turns the familiar into something otherworldly, and is a good showcase for why Leviathan has bowled over so many people. [CJ]

Opening scene – Post Tenebras Lux

Admittedly there are many scenes in this Carlos Reygadas directed film that are likely to stay with a person. A glowing red devil walking in a house at night, a man punching a dog severely, and a crazy French orgy all come to mind, and are also reasons I wouldn’t actually recommend this film. But if you watch any of it, watch the first ten minutes where a small child wanders alone in a cow pasture. She shuffles in the mud giggling with delight as giant cows graze around her and herding dogs do their best to keep her from danger. The scene switches between the view of seeing the child, a huge and sun-streaked sky behind her, and the narrowly focused and low perspective of the child running among the animals. It’s impossible not to feel fear for the child’s well-being while simultaneously be in awe of such a spectacle. [Ananda]

Safe Haven – V/H/S/2

Technically this is not a scene as much as it is a short film, but we are counting it because of the way V/H/S/2 is comprised of several of these sequences. Also because Safe Haven happens to be one of the most enjoyable horror segments of the entire year. The basic premise of Safe Haven involves a documentary crew interviewing a local man who runs a cult. After questioning the man’s beliefs (at one point they almost laugh at him), they ask him to take them to his compound so they can get an account of daily life.

The final 15 minutes of Safe Haven is an orgasmic release of unapologetic, ritualistic, and unbelievably bloody violence. Director Gareth Evans holds nothing back. Kids swallow suicide pills, a room full of men blow their brains out with pistols, men chasing each other with shotguns, and dead people come back to life as zombies. In one scene a man wills his body to explode sending his innards all over the walls of a hallway. All of this leads up to a magnificent scene of an 8 foot demon sticking its horn through an innocent woman’s stomach as she gives “birth” to Hell on Earth. And as the last survivor desperately tries to find his way out of the compound, you’ll shiver as the growls of the demon echo throughout your sound system as if Satan himself was ringing the dinner bell notifying his vermin that it’s time to eat. Safe Haven isn’t the best horror film that 2013 has to offer, but for a quick 30 minutes you’ll be struggling to pick your mouth up from the floor. [Blake]

Eva and Chloe – Enough Said

In Nicole Holofcener’s terrific Enough Said (if you haven’t seen it yet, what’s stopping you?), a lot of attention (and flack) has been given to a subplot involving Eva’s (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) friend Sarah (Toni Collette) fretting over replacing her maid. Sadly not as much attention is being paid to another subplot within the film, one that seemingly comes out of nowhere. As Eva’s daughter prepares to move away for college, her best friend Chloe (fashion blogger Tavi Gevinson, making her acting debut) starts to replace Eva’s daughter. It’s an unexpected and hilarious storyline, serving as a perfect complement to Eva’s fears of separation throughout the film. The subplot is one of the more original and bizarrely funny things to come out of 2013, and it shows why Holofcener is one of the more consistent and undervalued directors working today. [CJ]

The Big Twist – Stories We Tell

In Canadian director Sarah Polley’s experimental, poetic documentary about the relationship between people (her family, specifically), stories, and identity, she investigates the validity of the lingering family joke that her dad, Michael Polley, isn’t her biological father. After a 108 minute-long roller coaster ride of twists, turns, and revelations, the credits roll, and we’re left with a pretty clear idea of who Polley’s biological father truly is. That is, until a couple minutes into the credits, when a snippet of footage turns everything we thought we knew about the story on its head. The beauty of this final twist is that it strongly emphasizes Polley’s primary observation, that memories are abstract, malleable, and elusive. [Bernard]

Butterfly Metaphor – Dallas Buyers Club

Towards the end of Dallas Buyers Club, Ron Woodroof (Matthew McConaughey) returns to the Mexican hospital where he first received medications to effectively help him battle his HIV. Shortly after Ron and the doctor discuss a new possible treatment evolving from caterpillars Ron wanders into a back room full of monarch butterflies. Simultaneously back in Texas, his business partner, fellow HIV sufferer, and possibly the best friend Ron has ever had is succumbing to the aggressive disease. Rayon (played with perfection by Jared Leto) is a transgendered woman who never did get the sex change she wanted. Watching Ron among those possibly life-saving butterflies, as his best friend undergoes the ultimate cocoon transformation leaving her poor frail body behind, is the best kind of cinematic metaphor. [Ananda]

Under The Bed – The Selfish Giant

It’s impossible to go over the specifics of this sequence without delving into spoilers, so I’ll try to speak as generally as possible. In The Selfish Giant, best friends Arbor and Swifty spend their days collecting scrap metal and copper wire for a local junkyard owner. Right from the opening we see how Arbor and Swifty’s relationship operates. Arbor, a hot-tempered adolescent with some sort of behavioral issue (never specifically mentioned but hinted at by his refusal to take medication), is first seen lying underneath his bed having a fit. He screams and pounds at his bed until Swifty takes his hand, finally calming Arbor down. Writer/director Clio Barnard eventually revisits this moment in the final act with devastating results. In one quiet, simple shot Barnard breaks viewers’ hearts while putting them directly in Arbor’s state of mind. In this moment, and the one immediately after involving Siobhan Finneran, it’d be near-impossible to find anyone with a dry eye. [CJ]

Opening shot – Gravity

I certainly did not expect to see a better opening sequence this year after The Place Beyond the Pines’ three minute long tracking shot, but Gravity ups the ante with a fifteen minute continuous shot which masterfully introduces us to each character, as well as the weightless environment of space. The first couple of minutes of the film we only hear the radio communication between the astronauts and mission control as Earth slowly fills the screen. In the distance a white dot very slowly starts to enter the foreground and before long the space orbiter shape is recognizable. The camera floats around this orbiter in all directions, visually establishing the weightlessness of space. When Sandra Bullock’s character accidentally lets go of a screw and it flies right into the camera instead of straight down, the audience also feels no gravity for the next hour and a half. At this point the film is leisurely introducing the environment and the characters, however, this suddenly interrupted when news comes in that space debris is heading their way. The film is one long thrill ride after that. There is no doubt that what makes Gravity such an impressive work of art are the visual effects and cinematography, both are on full display in the film’s opening moments. [Dustin]

Car scene – Before Midnight

While Alfonso Cuaron’s space ballet opening scene in Gravity is arguably the pinnacle of cinematic spectacle for 2013, an early scene in Richard Linklater’s Before Midnight–the Rohmer-ish, talky third film in his beloved Before series–creates spectacle in a stealthier fashion, via a boldly extended single shot and sublime verbiage. As we watch gabby lovers Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Celine (Julie Delpy) chit chat about their career plans, twin daughters, and the beautiful Greek surroundings, the camera (planted firmly on the dashboard) keeps rolling…and rolling…and rolling, until it dawns on us that we’re watching a master-stroke of a shot. The unparalleled naturalistic dialog, the gorgeous Greek landscapes rolling out behind them, and the monumental length of the thing, make for a sequence every bit as elegant and awe-inspiring as Cuaron’s anti-gravity mini-opus. [Bernard]

Apparently 2013 was a good year to have the number twelve in your movie title (12 Years a Slave and Short Term 12) as well as an abstract meaning of the word color (Blue Is the Warmest Color and Upstream Color). And speaking of color, a couple highly praised films (Frances Ha and Nebraska) were shot only in black-and-white. While some films void of color such as Escape From Tomorrow and Computer Chess did not make our list, a film set in the black void of space did (Gravity). It was especially a good year for Matthew McConaughey and Brie Larson as each of them are in multiple films on our list.

Eight members of our staff voted on their favorite films of the year by submitting their own ranked list—those individual lists were mathematically converted into the list you see below. Before you dive into the results it is important to note that we were unable to see three potential list-changers before our voting deadline (Her, American Hustle, and The Wolf of Wall Street).

Way Too Indie’s Best Films of 2013

#25  Wadjda

Veiling undercurrents of politics and gender inequality with the simple tale of a smart girl who wants a bike is nothing short of genius – particularly when the story is done with so much gumption. Wadjda, both the first film to be shot in Saudi Arabia as well as the first to be directed by a Saudi woman, may not be infallible, but it is a sharp commentary that pierces to the heart of things just as well as its eponymous protagonist pierces our own hearts with her quirky, rebellious ways. It’s hard not to be inspired by her, and she’s bound to be a fantastic role model for young children everywhere, reminding us in small yet tenderly humorous ways how ridiculous prescribed gender identities can be. As WTI’s very own Bernard Boo points out in his review of the film, the male characters in this film are secondary, which is such a fantastic way for first-time director Haifaa Al-Mansour to give her female characters a prominent voice. Wadjda is not just a commendable debut; it’s an inspiring and charismatic journey. [Pavi]
Wadjda Review | Watch Trailer

#24  All is Lost

Emerging director JC Chandor’s debut, Margin Call, was a wordy chamber piece featuring an all-star cast, but for his second effort, All is Lost, he takes a refreshingly approach, shrinking his cast to a sole lead (the legendary Robert Redford) and giving him a mere three lines of dialog. Redford and Chandor’s tale of a lone man at sea is a textbook on visual and auditory harmony, with the sights and sounds of the swirling elements pounding Redford’s boat transporting us to another place entirely (an astonishing cinematic feat only matched this year by Alfonso Cuaron’s Gravity). We’re given virtually zero background about Redford’s character, but by the end of the film, we learn volumes about his mental, physical, and spiritual resilience. Is his fight for survival an exhibition of courage, or is it all for naught? [Bernard]
All is Lost Review | Watch Trailer

#23  About Time

I was so full of optimism and adoration for Richard Curtis when I left the cinema after seeing About Time. He was able to once again capture the hearts of all wishful thinkers and hopeless romantics, including myself. A really lovely tale staring two great leads that you fall in love with almost immediately, however, as Ananda states in her review, anyone more concerned with space-time continuums or time travel paradoxes should just bypass this film, as it really is just another Richard Curtis movie and thus all sense of reality should be left at the door.

But it is another great British classic to go alongside Bridget Jones, Love Actually and Notting Hill – you know those select few films that you’re never sure it’s okay to admit loving, but everyone really wants to. Well I’m singing it loud and proud, I thoroughly enjoyed About Time as much as any film I have seen this year and I can’t wait for its purchase release so that I can re-watch it over and over again. [Amy]
About Time Review | Watch Trailer

#22  Drinking Buddies

Considering Drinking Buddies had roughly ten times the amount of budget that director Joe Swanberg had for previous films, many thought this to be his crossover into the Hollywood system. And in some ways it is true. But considering the budget was only half a million dollars (well under most films you see nowadays), it really puts in perspective where Swanberg came from. For the first time in his career Swanberg is able to afford household names (Olivia Wilde, Jake Johnson, Anna Kendrick, and Ron Livingston) to star in his film. Drinking Buddies explores the dangers of getting too romantically involved with your close friends by utilizing familiar and relatable situations. Through the use of improvised dialog the film comes across as natural feeling as a film can be. The best moments of Drinking Buddies are when emotional tension is displayed without dialog because the characters are so well established that we know exactly what they are thinking. [Dustin]
Drinking Buddies Review | Watch Trailer

#21  The World’s End

The final film in Edgar Wright’s Cornetto Trilogy and by far the best. The World’s End is a highly entertaining science fiction/comedy hybrid that constantly fires on all cylinders. Simon Pegg leads a fantastic cast with the likes of Rosamund Pike, Martin Freeman, Paddy Considine, Eddie Marsan and Pierce Brosnan. Pegg, who has never been better, is Gary; an alcoholic who still holds on to memories of him and his mates trying to finish off the world’s toughest pub crawl. They try again 20 years later only this time find themselves in the midst of a colossal fight with intergalactic androids. The film is typical Wright, but as The World’s End barrels along to its conclusion, it starts to unravel a lot of layers that were not present at the beginning. What starts out as a high flying comedy soon turns into unexpected drama about alcoholism. Wright and his compatriots blaze a wonderful yarn about a group of men trying to reconnect with their youth and at the same time Wright constructs a meaningful film about poor souls who fall prey to the bottomless pits of despair. The World’s End is high class entertainment. [Blake]
Watch Trailer

#20  A Hijacking

Known to most people as that other film about Somalian pirates that came out this year (both of which were covered here), A Hijacking is one of many terrific dramas to make its way out of Denmark in the last several years. A corporate executive (Søren Malling), who starts the film giddy about successfully negotiating a sale, faces a tougher battle when one of his company’s ships is taken over by pirates. Malling’s character and a chef on the overtaken ship (Pilou Asbæk) are the film’s main focus, and as both men are trapped (one psychologically with guilt and a bruised ego, the other physically) we see them slowly crack under the pressure. Director Tobias Lindholm knows how to pile on the tension too: Negotiation scenes are filmed from Malling’s end, making them unbearably tense when things go awry, and the film’s biggest shocks come from its casual way of letting the audience see the passing of time. Captain Phillips may get all the fame this year, but A Hijacking gets the glory. [CJ]
Watch Trailer

#19  Mud

Mud was one of my Sundance London spotlight films; I had never seen McConaughey in such a sincere role. A story based upon one man’s pursuit to survive after being crushed by the undefeatable higher powers of the world. Mud (Matthew McConaughey) banishes himself to a deserted island surrounded on all sides by the Mississippi Rivers so that he will not be imprisoned for the crime he has been accused of committing in defence of the woman he loves. Two adventurous boys stumble upon Mud and once captured by the thrill of their secret mission to help him, do everything in their power to fight for what they believe to be right, freeing a man of the burdens that he carries and to find the woman he loves. [Amy]
Mud Review | Watch Trailer

#18  Stoker

Arriving the same year American Spike Lee would remake his seminal Oldboy, Park Chan Wook’s highly anticipated first English-language feature proved a kind of poetic statement of call-and-response to the tendency for North American cinema to re-make excellent films not just more linguistically palatable, but better while they’re at it.

Stoker stood in the face of this logic, bringing Park’s every lurid aesthetic chop together with richly stylized performances to deliver one of the year’s most disturbing, incessantly watchable, so-bad-it’s-brilliant American pictures. Matthew Goode is like a porcelain mask bound to crack and cut, his Uncle Charlie sharing a fascinating, not-so-deftly suggestive relationship with Mia Wasikowska’s elliptical India that’s at Stoker‘s brittle core. But it’s the boldness of violence – both physical and psychological – and consistency of vision that elevates the picture: at this rate, Park could direct the phone book and it’d be among the most considerately art-designed films of the year. [Jansen]
Stoker Review | Watch Trailer

#17  Side Effects

Who knew that Steven Soderbergh’s supposedly final theatrical feature would turn out to be his one of his most entertaining? Beginning with a stressed out wife (Rooney Mara) unable to handle her white-collar criminal husband (Channing Tatum) returning home after serving his sentence, she starts seeing a therapist (Jude Law) who prescribes her a new drug that apparently cures Mara of all her troubles. That is, until she winds up murdering her husband without any recollection of performing the act. The film’s first half is an unsettling look at the way prescription meds can alter one’s body, but it’s Soderbergh’s (and Scott Z. Burns’ terrific screenplay’s) distinct shift in the second half that elevates the film to something more than basic genre fare. Some people may be upset at the film’s blatant manipulation, but it makes a chilling impact. Just how much do we know about what we put in our bodies, and what it can make us capable of? Side Effects‘ second half makes us question everything we’ve seen beforehand, all while indulging in elements from 70s paranoia and 80s/90s psychosexual thrillers. The fact that Soderbergh can weave all these things together seamlessly speaks to his talents, and we can only hope that he’ll reconsider his early retirement from filmmaking. [CJ]
Side Effects Review | Watch Trailer

#16  Fruitvale Station

Following slain 22-year-old Bay Area resident Oscar Grant’s last day on earth, docu-drama Fruitvale Station is a resounding debut feature from young director Ryan Coogler, who’s as prone to take Hollywood by storm as his star, Michael B. Jordan. Coogler’s script pushes forward forcefully and cuts deeply, and along with Jordan’s breakout performance as Grant it helps to remind us of the humanity at stake in headline-grabbing travesties of this nature. [Bernard]
Fruitvale Station Review | Watch Trailer

#15  Dallas Buyers Club

Matthew McConaughey’s towering turn as HIV-positive Texas tough-guy and alternative drug entrepreneur Ron Woodruff in Dallas Buyers Club has earned the once oft-shirtless Hollywood hunk much deserved universal praise. But standing right alongside him, towering perhaps even taller, is Jared Leto, whose eerily lived-in portrayal of gregarious transsexual Rayon is one of the most entertaining and charming actor transformations of the year. The script is solid, as are the supporting players, directing (by Jean-Marc Vallée), and visuals, but the dual career-defining performances by the male leads propel Dallas Buyers Club up to the #15 slot on our list. [Bernard]
Dallas Buyers Club Review | Watch Trailer

#14  Spring Breakers

I went back and forth many times on whether or not to place Harmony Korine’s visual and aural sensation of a film as the #1 on my personal list before eventually settling for the #2 slot. Korine’s Spring Breakers perfectly captures and presents the ethos of American youth. I realize most kids are not gun toting, sex zealots like the heroines presented here, the mentality of “I’m gonna get mine at any cost,” reverberates incessantly throughout the film. Spring Breakers is a visual wonderland. Korine uses every trick in the book to fully illustrate the colorful scenery of the Floridian debauchery-soaked landscape. His brilliant visuals are backed by a maniacal score by dubstep master Skrillex and electro wizard Cliff Martinez. Even though the film may be tough to watch at times, there’s no denying the magnetic power Korine holds over you. Spring Breakers is dazzling. [Blake]
Spring Breakers Review | Watch Trailer

#13  The Great Beauty

Immediately after watching Paolo Sorrentino’s The Great Beauty I had a sudden urge to go visit a city that I have not considered before. This is due to the dazzling imagery of the landscapes, architecture, and culture of a modern-day Rome that is contained within this appropriately titled film. Every frame in the film feels like it could be made into a painting, then showcased in an art museum, and be admired by the very same people that are portrayed in the film. The film is ultimately about a man who has trouble finding true beauty in his elegant lifestyle even though beauty is all around him. Sorrentino certainly finds this great beauty while making a statement about the current Italian culture. [Dustin]
The Great Beauty Review | Watch Trailer

#12  The Place Beyond The Pines

Because The Place Beyond The Pines came out so early in the year (March) it is easy for the film slip under the radar for end of the year lists. Fortunately, Derek Cianfrance’s film has stuck with me the entire year due to the amazing cinematography (one of the best opening sequences of the year) that pairs perfectly with the unsettling score of the film. This is a classic three act story that is best experienced going into it without knowing much about it—which the trailer brilliantly abides by not giving away too much details. The acting performances from Ryan Gosling and Brady Cooper are simply stunning. If I had to vote for 2013’s Most Forgotten About Film, The Place Beyond The Pines would be at the top. [Dustin]
The Place Beyond The Pines Review | Watch Trailer

#11  The Spectacular Now

As much about coming of age as it is about love in its many forms, The Spectacular Now is a sweet yet poignant tale that tips its hat to the American high school drama whilst thoroughly surpassing it in the best way. Our expectations of the genre are as humbled as popular high-school kid Sutter is when he meets Aimee, the quiet nerdy girl he’s never noticed before. Sutter has a “live in the now” philosophy, but Aimee’s arrival in his life switches everything up, forcing them both to confront their deepest issues. Director James Ponsoldt gives us all of the teen awkwardness and curiosity with none (or at least very little) of the melodrama, and Miles Teller and Shailene Woodley are spectacular leads; though the film is primarily about Sutter, Woodley steals the show with her quiet love and concern that manifest themselves so plainly in her every expression. This film feels familiar and yet so much more complicated than anything we know, all at the same time. [Pavi]
The Spectacular Now Review | Watch Trailer

#10  Upstream Color

How to recommend a film that will undoubtedly leave you scratching your head and utterly perplexed? Perhaps by saying, never have you enjoyed being confused in so lovely a fashion. Upstream Color, the second of Shane Carruth’s bewildering directorial feats, is about two people who find each other after going through traumatic experiences where their minds were manipulated and now they are missing memories and much of their bank accounts. It’s a film full of beautiful scenery and strange happenings. It’s about many things: falling in love, finding and creating identity, solving a mystery, exacting revenge, and all sorts of other weird things one could only start to fathom upon repeat viewings. However you interpret it, there’s no denying Upstream Color is truly intriguing to watch. [Ananda]
Upstream Color Review | Watch Trailer

#9  The Hunt

Mads Mikkelsen is at his best as a teacher who is wrongly accused of molesting a young girl at his school. The Hunt is undoubtedly hard to watch at times as family and close friends turn their back on him, all while Thomas Vinterberg’s direction ratchets up the intensity with each passing minute. Everything about the film is top notch and the supporting actors are great; but the film is owned by Mikkelsen (Best Actor Winner at Cannes) who is onscreen for nearly every second. Sure, its melodrama, but Vinterberg and company are more than up for the challenge; and they succeed with flying colors. [Blake]
The Hunt Review | Watch Trailer

#8  The Act of Killing

No other film this year touches Joshua Oppenheimer’s The Act of Killing when it comes to the amount of jaw-dropping, shake your head in disbelief moments. Whether it’s former generals happily describing how they strangled innocent people with razor wire, government officials openly extorting business owners, a talk show audience applauding war crimes, or the sight of one of these generals dry heaving as he comes to understand what he did, The Act of Killing has no shortage of completely surreal and unbelievable moments. And I haven’t even described the re-enactments of the Indonesian military coup that the film uses as its starting point, all of which accentuate the stomach-churning feeling that goes on throughout Oppenheimer’s film. But what really makes The Act of Killing such a landmark documentary is the way Oppenheimer turns the footage around on viewers. Does Indonesia’s explicit endorsement of these actions somehow make them better or worse than the way Americans (or more generally people in the first world) implicitly endorse similarly oppressive and reprehensible behaviour? What makes The Act of Killing such a sickening film to watch is the realization that, as bone-chilling and incomprehensible this world is, it isn’t too far off from ours. [CJ]
The Act of Killing Review | Watch Trailer

#7  Nebraska

I grew up spending several weeks a year in my grandparent’s Midwestern town of 300 people. A town where the local bar was the only hangout and where many a conversation among neighbors revolved around the cars they drove and the farming equipment they operated. Alexander Payne (a fellow Midwesterner and Nebraska native) might as well have been writing about that town, tapping into the subtle humor found in the mundane of Midwestern life portrayed in Nebraska. I could go on and on about Bruce Dern’s performance as an old man duped into believing a marketing scheme is actually promising him a million dollars if he travels back to his native Nebraska to claim it, but the truth is his son, played with affable sincerity by Will Forte, provides a vantage point that is easy to relate to. A son coming to understand, or at least accept, the motivations that fuel his father forward and make up the man he has become in old age. Shot in beautiful black and white, which only adds to the lost-in-time feel of a small town, the film is quiet and hilarious, not to mention deeply touching. [Ananda]
Nebraska Review | Watch Trailer

#6  Short Term 12

A film that centers around a foster care facility, Short Term 12 could have been a clichéd attempt at manipulating our emotions with contrived characters and scenes. Instead, thanks to heartfelt direction from Destin Cretton as well as spectacular performances from the cast, it is exactly the opposite – a touching, genuine film that quietly leaves its mark in our hearts. Brie Larson gives the performance of her career, and possibly of the year, as Grace, a young woman who supervises at the facility, and is much loved by the children there. When a new arrival means she begins to confront her own past, and the traumas that lie within it, we’re drawn even further into her world, sympathizing with her emotions as though they touch us in our very flesh. The supporting cast are no less captivating, coming together to create a beautifully crafted film that confronts us with the reality of many lives. [Pavi]
Short Term 12 Review | Watch Trailer

#5  Blue Is the Warmest Color

Controversy has surrounded Blue Is The Warmest Color ever since the film premiered Cannes and won the grand Palm d’Or prize. Early on the debate was if the powerful ten minute lesbian sex scene was too graphic, too long, or just simply too taboo. However as time passed the lead actresses admitted to feeling mistreated during the filmmaking process (especially in the sex scenes) which sparked a whole new round of controversy. But with all this attention on the film, perhaps it proves that sometimes bad press is good press.

Putting aside all of the buzz surrounding the film, what you need to know is that Blue Is the Warmest Color is first and foremost about self-discovery and the intimate passion of love. The acting performances from the two female leads (Adèle Exarchopoulos and Léa Seydoux) are so effective that their love for each other is never in question. However, the film does not sugar cost the reality of love when it displays the tragedy of heartbreak. Blue Is the Warmest Color worth seeking out regardless of your stance on the film’s subject matter. This is masterful filmmaking and among the best cinema has to offer this year. [Dustin]
Blue Is the Warmest Color Review | Watch Trailer

#4  12 Years a Slave

One advantage to press screenings, sometimes, is there’s not yet much hype or disdain for a film. I had no idea going in the effect 12 Years a Slave would have on me. I knew director Steve McQueen was known for his effectiveness with serious subject matter, but am ashamed to admit I had never actually gotten around to watching one of his films. And now I worry that all the hype will actually deter some people from seeing the film, because when does one ever get in the mood to watch a film I personally described as “sobering and immensely difficult to watch”? But this film is in the Top 5 for good reason. Amazing performances and gripping imagery aside, 12 Years a Slave is storytelling at its most powerful. And partly what makes it so powerful is because it’s a true story. Every American should be made to watch this film, because each of us have exactly what this character/man of history, Solomon Northup, had, lost, and then regained: freedom. And McQueen’s cinematic reminder of just how invaluable a thing like that is, will always be timely. [Ananda]
12 Years a Slave Review | Watch Trailer

#3  Before Midnight

The third in Richard Linklater’s unprecedented touristic walk-n-talk romance series, Before Midnight checks in on Celine and Jesse 9 years after Before Sunset and 18 years after Before Sunrise. The couple’s once fresh, vigorous attraction to one another has begun to sour a bit as mounting mid-life stresses strip their romance bare, but Delpy and Hawke’s unparalleled chemistry is as crackling as ever. The progressively contentious (and riveting) interactions between the now-jaded lovers bring a raw intensity not found in the film’s predecessors, and as the stinging reality begins to emerge that the yappy soul mates may have reached the end of lovers’ lane, a profound feeling of desperation rocks their world, and ours. This is the first time we’re seeing these precious-to-many characters get their hands dirty, and not only is this the best film in the series, it’s damn near close to perfection. [Bernard]
Before Midnight Review | Watch Trailer

#2  Frances Ha

What can I say about Noah Baumbach’s Frances Ha? The film is totally original and rare gem unlike anything I have ever seen before. I can honestly say that I’ve never felt so connected to a character as I did with Frances (wonderfully played by Greta Gerwig); she is the embodiment of every emotion and defeat we go through. Yet, instead of actually being defeated she rises and she fights—never letting the wavering flame of hope burn out, and that is what I found humbling, encouraging, and powerful. The script found in Frances Ha was flawless and brilliant; it was stylistic in every sense of the word. Frances Ha has my sincerest recommendation and is completely worthy of its high rank on our list. I challenge you to watch the film and not fall in love with Frances. [Amy]
Frances Ha Review | Watch Trailer

#1  Gravity

Our film of the year is a fitting champion in form, tone, and technique within such a banner year for the art precisely because it worked counter to so many worrying trends pervading in the industry as of late. A muscular 90 minute story in a sea of 2 1/2 hour-plus 3D action epics released every year, perhaps the highest praise we can offer Gravity is that it can (and often does) work without words. Is storytelling through visuals not cinema at its most romantic? Does that not emphatically harken back to movies at their most alluring and pure?

Gravity is a feat of virtuoso visuals and its excellent use of 3D technology goes without saying; it’s been said everywhere. But what most impressed me is Alfonso Cuaron’s unsentimental, almost ruthlessly direct narrative: you-are-there at tis most cathartically palpable, and relentlessly potent. This is space. and these are the turmoils of space. and here are two characters that can help you relate: even if you didn’t buy into the higher allegorical ambitions of Gravity, that much of the story, at least, touches everybody. And that is a thrilling thing for cinema. [Jansen]
Gravity Review | Watch Trailer

Our Best Films of 2013 Infographic

Nominations for the Film Independent Spirit Awards were announced this morning by Octavia Spencer, who was probably happy to announce that Fruitvale Station (a film she is in) picked up 3 nominations. But the film with the most nominations unsurprisingly went to Steve McQueen’s 12 Years A Slave, which picked up a total of 7 nominations; Best Feature, Director, Actor, Supporting Actor, Supporting Actress, Screenplay, and Cinematography. The biggest shock was indie darling Greta Gerwig getting snubbed for a nomination for Best Actress in Frances Ha, a film that only picked up three noms (though one was for Best Feature).

The strongest category in my opinion goes to the Best International Film category that is comprised of; A Touch Of Sin, Blue Is The Warmest Color, Gloria, The Great Beauty, and The Hunt, all of which are amazing films. It is especially nice to see Blue Is The Warmest Color make that list as the film will not qualify for an Oscar nomination the following night because of a technicality in the rules that states a film must open in its home country on or before September 30th. Though it is likely a favorite to win here.

Also announced today was the new category of Best Editing, a welcoming addition that is surprising the awards show went so long without. We look forward to watching Patton Oswalt handling the hosting duties this year, in what should be a great show filled with a ton of indie talent. The winners will be announced at the 29th annual Film Independent Spirit Awards on March 1st and the broadcast will air at 10 p.m. ET/PT on IFC.

Read: Our 2014 Spirit Award predictions

List of 2014 Independent Spirit Award Nominations:

12 Years A Slave
All Is Lost
Frances Ha
Inside Llewyn Davis
Nebraska

Shane Carruth – Upstream Color
J.C. Chandor – All Is Lost
Steve McQueen – 12 Years A Slave
Jeff Nichols – Mud
Alexander Payne – Nebraska

Blue Caprice
Concussion
Fruitvale Station
Una Noche
Wadjda

Bruce Dern – Nebraska
Chiwetel Ejiofor – 12 Years A Slave
Oscar Isaac – Inside Llewyn Davis
Michael B. Jordan – Fruitvale Station
Matthew McConaughey – Dallas Buyers Club
Robert Redford – All Is Lost

Cate Blanchett – Blue Jasmine
Julie Delpy – Before Midnight
Gaby Hoffmann – Crystal Fairy
Brie Larson – Short Term 12
Shailene Woodley – The Spectacular Now

Michael Fassbender – 12 Years A Slave
Will Forte – Nebraska
James Gandolfini – Enough Said
Jared Leto – Dallas Buyers Club
Keith Stanfield – Short Term 12

Melonie Diaz – Fruitvale Station
Sally Hawkins – Blue Jasmine
Lupita Nyong’o – 12 Years A Slave
Yolanda Ross – Go For Sisters
June Squibb – Nebraska

A Touch of Sin (China)
Blue is the Warmest Color (France)
Gloria (Chile)
The Great Beauty (Italy)
The Hunt (Denmark)

Sean Bobbitt – 12 Years a Slave
Benoit Debie – Spring Breakers
Bruno Delbonnel – Inside Llewyn Davis
Frank G. Demarco – All Is Lost
Matthias Grunsky – Computer Chess

The Act Of Killing
After Tiller
Gideon’s Army
The Square
Twenty Feet From Stardom

Computer Chess – Andrew Bujalski
Crystal Fairy – Sebastian Silva
Museum Hours – Jem Cohen
Pit Stop – Yen Tan
This Is Martin Bonner – Chad Hartigan

Shane Carruth & David Lowery – Upstream Color
Jem Cohen & Marc Vives – Museum Hours
Jennifer Lame – Frances Ha
Cindy Lee – Una Noche
Nat Sanders – Short Term 12

Woody Allen – Blue Jasmine
Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke, Richard Linklater – Before Midnight
Nicole Holofcener – Enough Said
Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber – The Spectacular Now
John Ridley – 12 Years a Slave

Lake Bell – In A World
Joseph Gordon-Levitt – Don Jon
Bob Nelson – Nebraska
Jill Soloway – Afternoon Delight
Michael Starburry – The Inevitable Defeat Of Mister & Pete

Mud
Director: Jeff Nichols
Casting Director: Francine Maisler
Ensemble Cast: Joe Don Baker, Jacob Lofland, Matthew McConaughey, Ray McKinnon, Sarah Paulson, Michael Shannon, Sam Shepard, Tye Sheridan, Paul Sparks, Bonnie Sturdivant, Reese Witherspoon

Toby Halbrooks & James M. Johnson
Jacob Jaffke
Andrea Roa
Ferderick Thornton

Kalyanee Mam – A River Changes Course
Jason Osder – Let The Fire Burn
Stephanie Spray & Pancho Valez – Manakamana

Aaron Douglas Johnston – My Sister’s Quinceanera
Shaka King – Newlyweeds
Madeleine Olnek – The Foxy Merkins

This past Thursday in San Francisco, the San Francisco Film Society held their inaugural Fall Celebration, honoring four films that look to be contenders come Oscar season: Nebraska, Fruitvale Station, Her, and The Square. Patrons gathered at elite social club The Battery to celebrate cinema and raise money for the Society.

Filmmakers and actors from the films were in attendance to participate in a panel before the night’s festivities, including directors Alexander Payne, Ryan Coogler, Spike Jonze, and Jehane Noujaim, and actors Michael B. Jordan (Fruitvale Station) and June Squib (Nebraska). The questions tossed at the star-studded panel covered a wide range of topics, from origin stories to locations to budgets to filmmaking processes.

Hometown Hero

Bay Area native Ryan Coogler was visibly proud and humbled to be in San Francisco representing Fruitvale Station, his debut feature which reconstructs 22-year-old Oscar Grant’s last day on earth, before he was shot and killed by a transit officer in a BART station in Oakland. Coogler remembered being deeply affected by the news of Grant’s death, but felt the media lost the human angle of the incident. “Nobody was really talking about the fact that Oscar was a human being,” he recalled. “He wasn’t just a symbol…he was a 22-year-old guy who had hopes and dreams and relationships, and it all got cut short.”

The movie was filmed mere miles from where the panel was taking place, which Jordan (who plays Oscar) emphasized was key. “It was very important–especially to Ryan,” he said. “[Ryan] just didn’t see the film being shot anywhere besides here, where it happened, where Oscar was from.” Coogler got the green light to shoot in the Bay Area with some help from an influential supporter. “It’s always easier when you have somebody like Forrest Whitaker writing a letter or making a phone call,” Jordan said about the film’s famous producer and mentor to Coogler.

When asked about the state and future of the film industry, Coogler seemed to have an optimistic outlook. “The studio films that we’ve seen succeed this year…some have been about comic book characters from pre-existing franchises that studios could put money behind. But, we’ve had others that have been incredibly human. The more we see projects that can make a lot of money and also have human connections…we’ll see studios doing more of those.”

Big Studios and Indies Get Along…in Nebraska

Alexander Payne’s Nebraska–a road trip movie about a father (Bruce Dern) who takes his son (Will Forte) with him on a pilgrimage from Montana to Nebraska to collect prize money he’s won from a lottery–is a studio film shot in gorgeous black and white, with no major stars in its cast, one of those “human” films Coogler was gushing about.

Payne, whose first film, Citizen Ruth was shot over 40 days, was blown away when he asked Coogler how long it took to shoot Fruitvale (20 days.) “It takes me 20 days just to walk to the bathroom!” he joked.

When asked if anyone at Paramount, the film’s distributor, questioned the bankability of the project, Payne assured us that there weren’t any studio heads poking around the production. “To Paramount’s credit, no one [questioned that.] They gave me carte blanche. Once we agreed [on the] 13 and a half million base budget, they left me totally alone.”

Something in the Way She Moves…

Her, Spike Jonze’s latest window into his brilliant, hyperactive imagination, follows a sad-sack writer named Theodore (Joaquin Phoenix) as he begins to fall for an operating system named Samantha (voiced by Scarlett Johansson), something like a super-advanced version of “Siri” tailored to be Theodore’s perfect companion. Despite a premise absolutely dripping with social satire, Jonze insists no grand statements exists at the core of Her. “I wasn’t trying to make a comment or a satire about society,” Jonze explained. “…the character of the operating system is just a voice, but we tried to create a character that is a fully developed being with their own longings, needs, and passion.”

“One of the things that was important to us when we were designing the movie was to design this very warm world…a heightened version of the world we’re in,” Jonze said of the significance of place in cinema. He further elaborated on geography’s emotional significance: “L.A. is this place where the weather’s always nice, the ocean is there, the mountains are there…but even in that light, in this world, the loneliness and isolation maybe hurts in a specific way.”

The Never Ending Story

Documenting the lives of six protesters in the Egyptian uprising that started in 2011 in Tahrir Square (and continues to this day), director Jehane Noujaim’s The Square went through a major change earlier this year when the state of the revolution continued to evolve. The film premiered at Sundance, where it won the audience award, and concluded with president Mohammed Morsi stepping down, to the joy of the Tahrir protesters. But “the story kept changing,” Noujaim explained.

Morsi’s replacement turned out to be just as disagreeable as he was, so the people, outraged, returned to the square. “Initially, we [followed] the bringing down of a dictator to the election of a new president. That was the political continuum,” she continued. “The more interesting story was when all of our characters were back in the streets again.”

So, Noujaim and her crew returned to Tahrir, filmed additional footage, re-edited the film, showed it at the Toronto International Film Festival, and got another audience award. Despite the ever shifting political landscape in Egypt, Noujaim is positive the project is finished. “Our characters have gone through a full arc.”

For more info, visit SFFS.org

On MVFF’s gigantic penultimate day, a quintet of some of the industry’s most exciting directors gathered for a meeting of the minds, the stars and directors of At Middleton and Beside Still Waters unveiled their respective films to packed houses, and the whole lot of them partied it up in the beautiful town of Tiburon, right down the road.

Filmmaker Superfriends

To start off Day 10 of the festival, a killer lineup of directors gathered to participate in a panel organized by Variety, in which they discussed the industry and their filmmaking processes. In my previous festival recap, I mentioned that Ryan Coogler (Fruitvale Station) asked Steve McQueen a question during the 12 Years a Slave Q&A; McQueen didn’t seem to notice that the young buck was a talented filmmaker himself at the time, but when the two met officially for the Variety panel they became fast friends. Joining Coogler and McQueen for the panel was J.C. Chandor, who helmed the Robert Redford “man at sea” film, All is Lost and 2011’s Margin Call. We spoke to Chandor about the film, so keep an eye out for our interview next week. Also in attendance were John Wells of August: Osage County and Scott Coooper of Crazy Heart and Out of the Furnace.

Click to view slideshow.

Andy Garcia’s Campus Romance

At Middleton,  directed by newcomer Adam Rodgers, focuses on a sporadic on-campus romance between George (Andy Garcia) and Edith (Vera Farmiga), who meet while accompanying their kids on a campus tour of Middleton University. A walk-and-talk rom-com cut from the same cloth as Richard Linklater’s Before series but with a more lighthearted flare, the film was received incredibly well by the Mill Valley audience at CinéArts@Sequoia, who expressed their enthusiasm during the post-screening Q&A with Rodgers, Garcia, and the films’ producers. “When you have a chance to play with [an actor like] Vera Farmiga,” Garcia gushed, “[the scenes] are all fun.” The chemistry developed between the accomplished actors, amazingly, took no time to develop at all. “We never even read the script together once,” Garcia said, to the surprise of the audience, who had been so taken by the screen romance. “We got to know each other as the characters did on camera. She’s incredible.”

Future BIG Movie Stars CHILL in Beside Still Waters

A few feet down from the At Middleton screening, another movie about people talking was pleasing a separate batch of MVFF-goers. Chris Lowell, an actor best known for his roles in Veronica Mars (the “kickstarted” film version is shooting now) and The Help, hops into the director’s chair for the first time with his nostalgia-driven hangout movie, Beside Still Waters. In it, a tragedy causes a group of old childhood friends to reconvene at the memory-filled cabin in the forrest they grew up playing around in (no, it’s not a horror movie). The cast, comprised of some of some of the prettiest rising-star actors in the game right now (just look a the pictures!), were all in attendance at the MVFF screening along with their incredibly excited director, who was all smiles during the audience Q&A. “I was really excited to direct [and] talk to actors the way I’d like a director to talk to me,” Lowell beamed. “That was probably the thing I was most thrilled about. That, and not having to go through hair and makeup in the morning.” Comparisons to the king of all hangout movies, The Big Chill, are inevitable, and Lowell didn’t shy away from acknowledging the influence of Kasdan’s film, which has a strikingly similar premise. “[My co-writer Mohit Narang] and I obsessed over every conceivable reunion [movie], to see what people did right and wrong. The Big Chill is obviously the big tentpole film for [this kind of movie], which is why everyone comes back to it. It’s a film that you watch when you’re sick because it makes you feel good and right about the world.”

Worlds Collide…Over Cocktails

After the dual screenings of At Middleton and Beside Still Waters, the buzzing crowds and proud filmmakers met again at the Tiburon Tavern just down the road to schmooze, booze, and enjoy delectable bites of delicious food (the coffee-coated cheese was curious, yet excellent). Andy Garcia and the Beside Stll Waters cast were happy to mingle, keeping the good vibes flowing along with the bubbly. Lowell and Rodgers, both elated to have their films so well-received, shared their experiences and a big, congratulatory hug.

Stiller Closes Out With Mitty

MVFF closed out big with what looks to be one of the most visually striking films of the year, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. Ben Stiller unsurprisingly drew a blitz of media and fan attention when he arrived at the CinéArts@Sequoia theater to present his passion project, about an office worker (played by Stiller himself) who lives in picturesque fantasy worlds represented onscreen beautifully by Stiller and DP Stuart Dryburgh (The Piano). After the screening, Stiller was given the Mill Valley Award and then headed down the street to San Rafael’s beautiful Elk’s Lodge where everyone–from the hard-working festival staff, to the filmmakers, to industry people, to the excited festival-goers–celebrated as the wonderful 11-day festival came to a close.

But wait…that’s not all! We’ve still got a ton of content coming out of the festival, so stay tuned in the next few days for more MVFF goodness!

Steve McQueen, 12 Years a Slave, and the Unexpected Guest

Of all the films in the exceedingly strong MVFF lineup, none have generated the momentum and near-universal acclaim of Steve McQueen’s 12 Years a Slave, based on the autobiography of Solomon Northup, a free black man who was kidnapped and sold into slavery in 1841. McQueen and stars Chiwetel Ejiofor (who plays Northup) and Lupita Nyong’o took the stage in front of a full house at the Christopher B. Smith Rafael Film Center to answer the questions of the audience, who were still reeling after seeing the gut-wrenching film.

“I wanted to make a film about slavery because I felt, within the cannon of film, this particular subject hadn’t been tackled,” professed a straight-faced McQueen. “Everybody knows Anne Frank’s diary. Every school should have 12 Years a Slave (the book) on their curriculum. That’s my aim with this film.”

During the Q&A session, something very special happened, though few noticed it. The mobile microphone that had been floating around the theater from person to person wound up in the hands of Fruitvale Station director and Bay Area native, Ryan Coogler, one of the brightest young directors in the game. Funny thing is, very few audience members seemed to recognize Coogler, though he didn’t seem to pay that any mind at all. With wide-eyed curiosity, eagerness, and humility, Coogler–amongst a sea of weighty questions about slavery–chose instead to ask McQueen about filmmaking technique, specifically his proclivity for doing one-shot takes as opposed to traditional coverage.

“I don’t do coverage,” McQueen explained to the intently focused Coogler. “For me, it’s a waste of time because I know what I want.” It’s this confident, assertive, no-bull attitude that so many great auteurs share, and in that moment between McQueen and Coogler, I could sense the future of cinema getting just a little bit brighter.

A Dark Teen Idol Returns with a Powerhouse Performance

No red carpet arrival at MVFF could match the energy of Jared Leto’s. The most likely explanation for the fervor is that he’s one of the dreamiest cinema dreamboats of the past 20 years, but in his new film, Dallas Buyers Club (his first film in four or five years), he proves once again that he’s much too talented to be reduced to just another pretty face.

Based on a true story, the film (you know, the one Matthew McConaughey lost a bunch of weight for) follows Ron Woodruff (McConaughey), a bull-riding man’s man who was diagnosed as being HIV positive and subsequently waged pharmaceutical war on the FDA and other companies in the ’80s in hopes to make alternative treatments available for HIV-positive patients. Leto plays Rayon, a transsexual, HIV-positive business partner of Ron’s who’s got sass and hustle for days. Though McConaughey is likely to get an Academy Award nomination for his turn as Woodruff, Leto is equally deserving of a supporting nod, with a performance so lived-in and remarkable it’ll make you wish he’d quit 30 Seconds to Mars (that rock band of his) and come back to acting for us full-time.

Leto stayed in character even when off-set, walking around with Rayon’s leggings, lipstick, and clothes on. “It was interesting how people treated me differently,” Leto said in the post-screening Q&A session. “Every glance somebody gave me, every time I had an encounter, every time a grip offered his hand when I stepped out of the van…it ultimately helped me deliver a much better performance.”

John Wells Turns the Tables

One of the best things about film festivals are the Q&A’s; everyday people like you and me get to pry the brains of some of the most talented filmmakers in the business. Director John Wells, however, flipped the script on the MVFF Q&A crowd–who had just finished watching his new film, August: Osage County–by asking them questions.

“Did you think it was funny?” Wells asked, earnestly, which was met by an emphatic, unanimous “yes” and a smattering of applause from the smiling festival-goers. Wells was likely concerned whether the film’s humor came through or not because the film–based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning play of the same name by Tracy Letts, who also wrote the screenplay–revolves around a family tragedy and crises. The feuding women of the Weston family–played by Meryl Streep as the drug-addled matriarch, and Julia Roberts, Julianne Nicholson and Juliette Lewis as Streep’s daughters–are brought together after years of separation to their old Oklahoma home after receiving devastating news about their father, Beverly (Sam Shepard).

Wells went further with his questioning, asking the audience members who were familiar with the play if there was something they missed from the stage version that he cut from his screen adaptation. When several audience members voiced their preference for the play’s ending (which is only slightly different), Wells admitted their feedback could have an effect on the final cut of the film. “I actually have to lock the film by Monday or Tuesday next week, which is why I’m asking these questions!”

When asked about the on-screen relationship between Streep and Roberts and how they approached their roles as mother and daughter, Wells explained just how significant their mother-daughter chemistry is to the story. “One of the themes of the film is, for better or for worse, we become our parents. We reach a moment in our adult lives at which we have to decide what we’re going to use and what we’re not going to use.”

Blues Bad-Asses Rock Sweetwater

In celebration of late Blues guitar legend Mike Bloomfield and the new film detailing his life, Sweet Blues (which played at MVFF), music fans piled into Mill Valley’s historic Sweetwater Music Hall to listen to some of the baddest Blues on the planet played by some veteran virtuosos and some old friends of Bloomfield’s. Amongst the music marvels were Conan O’Brien cohort Jimmy Vivino, Bay Area Blues veteran Elvin Bishop, and harmonica master Charlie Musselwhite. The tiny, excellent-sounding venue was packed shoulder to shoulder with elated music lovers swaying as one, a perfect way to unwind and a perfect lead-in to what’s sure to be a killer final two days at the festival.

Stay tuned to Way Too Indie for all the news coming out of the festival this weekend, including coverage of the directors panel (Ryan Coogler, Steve McQueen, JC Chandor, Scott Cooper, John Wells), capsule reviews, interviews, photo galleries, and much more!

On New Year’s Day 2009, Oscar Grant, a black 22-year-old Bay Area resident was pulled off a BART train and taken into custody by a police officer. Unarmed and defenseless, he was shot in the back and killed on the Fruitvale BART station train platform in front of dozens of passengers. The incident was captured on a cell phone camera and went viral, making national news. The shocking footage opens director Ryan Coogler‘s debut feature, Fruitvale Station, a dramatization of Oscar Grant’s last day on earth which aims to humanize the shamefully under-discussed news story by spotlighting quiet, ostensibly meaningless moments in his final hours. This intimate, personal perspective on Oscar’s story illuminates the magnitude and cultural significance of his death in a way no news story ever could.

The decision to open the film with the raw footage is brilliant, providing weighty context for every scene that follows. After the clip, we loop back from New Year’s Day to New Year’s Eve and the beginning of Oscar’s (Michael B. Jordan) day. He’s bickering with his girlfriend, Sophina (Melonie Diaz) in their bedroom, trying to convince her that a recent affair was a one-time-only mistake. Diaz and Jordan have real chemistry, and their speech dynamic feels natural. When their daughter Tatiana (Ariana Neal) knocks on the door, and Oscar hurries to hide a zip of weed before letting her in. He clearly ain’t no saint, but who is?

Coogler’s unobtrusive camera follows Oscar throughout his day as we’re introduced to the pile of mistakes he’s accumulated. He’s lost his job at the grocery store, he’s an ex-convict (which we discover in an unforgettable flashback scene), and he’s got an explosive temper, but he clearly loves his family and is trying hard to shake his demons for their sake. His life is a mess, but he’s determined to clean it up.

Jordan respects the role and convinces us that he was born to do it. He embraces the ugliness of his mean streak while convincing us that he’s a caring family man deep down, a challenge that would be easily flubbed by most young actors. He’s got the chops to be truly great. Octavia Spencer is characteristically captivating as Oscar’s mother, Wanda Grant, a soft-spoken, caring matriarch with an exhausted patience for his bullshit (she’ll never forget how Oscar going to jail affected her granddaughter.) Still, she loves her son, so when he tells her that he and Sophina are going to San Francisco to watch the fireworks she thoughtfully suggests they take BART instead of driving.

Coogler’s passion for his subjects is felt throughout the film, and he shows that he’s a director of taste and discipline. The key to the film’s success is making sure we get to know Oscar as a person, and he keeps his priorities straight. There are occasional moments of high drama that jar the tone of realism (Tatiana clairvoyantly asking her dad not to get on the BART train is totally unnecessary), and the post-Fruitvale scenes feel a little bloated, but for the most part Coogler makes all the right moves.

Returning to the titular train station for the film’s third act is as terrifying as you’d imagine. Watching the raw footage the first time was hard enough, but now we feel like we know Oscar inside and out, which makes the reenactment of his death simply earth-shattering. The fact that this dramatization is somehow more gut-wrenching than the raw footage is a testament to the power of cinema.

When I got out of the San Francisco press screening for Fruitvale Station, all I wanted to do was rush home, kiss my wife, and tell her I love her. I darted out of the theater in a panic, a sense of urgency compelling me to walk faster, faster, faster. I wanted to get home so bad I could burst. Then, I remembered something that stopped me cold. My ride home? A BART train. Fruitvale Station will rattle you to the core.

At 22 years old, Oscar Grant was shot and killed at the Fruitvale BART Station by an Oakland police officer on New Year’s Day 2009. The incident was captured on video and the unsettling footage subsequently went viral, making it a national news story. Despite the tragic, upsetting, and confounding nature of the shooting, Oscar’s story failed to make the social impact that it should have. First time director Ryan Coogler’s recreation of Oscar’s last day on earth, Fruitvale Station, aims to spark the discussions about justice, loss, family, and empathy that the original headlines weren’t able to by reminding us that Oscar Grant isn’t merely a symbol—he was a human being, a father, a son, a lover, and a friend to many.

We spoke to Ryan in a tiny roundtable interview the day after the film premiered in Oakland. He talked to us about his initial reaction to the incident, being from the Bay Area, the support the film received from Forrest Whitaker, the amazing reaction the film’s been getting from audiences, and more. Check out the edited transcript below.

Read More Fruitvale Station Interviews:

Michael B. Jordan and Octavia Spencer
Melonie Diaz
Ahna O’Reilly

At what point did you realize you wanted to make this movie?
Almost immediately following the incident. I don’t think that’s a rare thing. Artists, we tend to be inspired by things that strike a deep emotion in us. If a photographer sees something that moves him or her, they’ll take a photo. If somebody goes through an intense experience and they happen to be a musician, they’ll write a song about that. My outlet, my art is being a filmmaker. I often see things that move me in different ways and I wonder what it would be like in terms of cinematic structure. I saw what happened immediately after Oscar being killed, and it made me realize that a film could possibly offer insight into why these types of things are tragic, and maybe that insight could trigger a discussion that could help to make these type of things happen less frequently.

This film presents a story that the news can’t. Talk a bit about your decision to follow Oscar on his last day.
It’s not a new idea. It’s a type of cinematic structure that has existed for a long time and one that I found effective, especially in independent films. I can read off a list of films that do that. In American cinema, there’s Do the Right Thing, United 93 by Paul Greengrass. You can look at 4 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days, which is a Romanian film. You can look at Elephant by Gus Van Sant, a deconstruction of a school massacre. Something that these films have in common is that even though the time is compressed, you feel like you’re hanging out with the characters and you get to know them in the intimate moments and the meaningless moments. You go on a journey in that day, and days in themselves have a scripted feel to them. There’s a beginning, a middle, and an end. A person wakes up, goes to bed, and wakes up, hopefully. That structure isn’t a rare thing. I had that idea in mind for the film.

There were so many inherent ironies in [the incident that I found] when I was researching—the fact that it was New Year’s Eve, the most optimistic holiday on the planet. People are so forward-looking. Everybody’s being introspective around that time on how they can make their lives better or how they can make a resolution that’s going to fix things for this new clean slate. I found out that it was his mom’s birthday, which is crazily ironic. His mom was born on New Year’s Eve and his whole day was pretty much spent preparing for one of the most important women in his life. I found out that he had recently been released from prison, so that was added emphasis to the time and the New Year. I found out he spent most of his day with his girl and his daughter. Tracking those movements, it made perfect sense to tell the story in terms of that.

We seldom see any films about the East Bay. Do you plan on exploring more stories based here?
Absolutely. I live in Richmond and I don’t plan to move. I feel extremely inspired by home. I love home. There’s a history of talented filmmakers coming from this place and a history of amazing stories [coming] out of this place. You think about where the Bay Area sits in terms of its contributions to every landscape, be it the political landscape, the technological landscape, music, athletics. It’s a high representation in terms of contribution. In the filmmaking landscape, it’s not as high as other metropolitan communities like New York or Los Angeles. I would love more than anything to continue to tell Bay Area stories.

I think it’s a unique place with a lot of stories. I think it’s the best place in the world. I’m partial to it, but…It’s such a mash-up of cultures meeting here, right on the Pacific Ocean. I didn’t realize how good I had it in the Bay Area until I moved. I know the difference between somebody who’s Cambodian, Vietnamese, Filipino, Chinese. I knew these things before I was in Kindergarten. I knew that every Hispanic person isn’t Mexican. Racial tensions exist here just like anywhere else, but it is different. I came up with white friends and Hispanic friends, all in the same neighborhood. You see multi-ethnic relationships like Oscar and Sophina’s. It’s not a weird thing here. It’s who we are. There’s acceptance of people with different sexual orientations or political views. It’s an interesting culture that deserves documentation, deserves stories to be told about it.

Can you describe the research process? How long did it take, and was it difficult?
In terms of time, it’s tough to say. Things have been moving fast with the film. We shot the film less than a year ago. At the process [of making the film], research was all I had. I had a friend who was a lawyer on a civil case who I had met when I was in film school, and I was helping [him] organize the footage [for the case] because I knew how to edit. I was lining up footage for them to present in court, so I had access to all the footage. I knew I was going to make a film about [Oscar], and when it was time for me to start building the script, I asked for [every court document] they could legally share with me. I had the testimonies of the police officers, the testimonies of Oscar’s friends and family. From there, I could build out the scope of that day in terms of what happened and people’s perspectives on what went down. That’s where it started for me. I built the first script before I had access to his family. Once I got access, his character started to take on a three-dimensional quality.

How did you feel when they announced that you won the audience award at Sundance?
It was a very surreal experience. It [was] not something I expected at all. I was honored…to even be accepted to that incredible festival and be amongst that energy of so many people who love films, especially since we’d been supported by the Sundance institute. When they called the film up for awards…it’s a mind-numbing experience. I was really, really humbled by the fact that people thought enough of everyone’s work to honor it. Films are made by hundreds of people, so I was just happy and proud of all the work everybody else put in.

Talk a bit about how the film’s specificity makes it so universal and relatable to everybody, even people all the way over in France at Cannes.
That was a goal of mine. It was my goal that this film could be shared with people who had never come in contact with someone like Oscar. Often times, people like that become police officers in communities that are full of Oscar Grants! Often times, police officers come from places that are extremely homogenous—predominately white, predominately affluent. They want to be a cop in a city like Oakland, but they never spend five minutes with somebody like Oscar Grant! My goal with this film was to make it so specific about this character so that somebody who would never come in close contact with somebody [like that] could see a bit of themselves in that character. We focused on the human relationships. Everybody knows what it’s like to have a mom. Everybody knows what it’s like to have somebody they love. A lot of people know what it’s like to have a daughter. A lot of people know what it’s like to be 22 years old, trying to figure stuff out. We hope that in making it specific to Bay Area culture that people can see a little bit of their own culture in it. A lot of my favorite films are from places I’ve never been. I love A Separation by Asghar Farhadi, [which takes place in] Tehran. I’ve never been to Tehran! It’s very specific, but at the same time, when that couple is arguing about what’s going to happen to their kids, I’m right there with them. I think, through specificity, through being honest with things that you know, [the story] can become universal. I hope that it works for our film.

What was the casting process like?
It’s an amazing cast. A lot of it was just good fortune—I’m blessed. Forrest Whitaker and Nina Yang greenlit the film, so that added a lot of validity [to the project.] If we wanted to go out to an actor, it helped to have an Oscar winning humanitarian behind the film. I had the support of the Sundance Institute, which was an added plus. I had Michael B. Jordan in mind very early on. I knew I was writing it for him. In my mind, he wasn’t just the best person for the job, but in many ways the only person for the job. I went to him when I felt the script was ready to be shared and he agreed to do it. I met with him because my style of working is [that I get] very close to the people I work with, so I wanted to make sure that we got along. I fell in love with him as soon as I met him. We looked hard for Sophina. We saw a lot of talented Latina actresses. Melonie was somebody who was brought up by the Sundance Institute. We Skyped and talked about the script and made the decision that she was the best person for the role. The San Francisco Film Society came onboard and one of the ways they supported us was through a program called Off the Page where they pay money for the actors to come into the Bay Area to get the script on its feet. They brought Mike and Melonie out to get a feel for the Bay Area, the slang, and how we talk in the East Bay. We needed someone for the mom role, which is a very important role. My agent said, “What about Octavia?” She had just won her Oscar, so I was like, “Aw man, you’re crazy!” We have no money, and she’s not coming out to Oakland to make a movie at my grandma’s house. [We sent her the script] and she ended up signing on.

How was it meeting Oscar’s family for the first time?
His mom is the executive of the state. It was moving meeting her for the first time because I realized how young she was. When I saw pictures of her in news clips, she seemed like she was a little older. I met her while she was young, so that was heartbreaking. I realized how many moms bury their sons in this community, whether it’s police brutality, black on black crime…that was on my mind. Meeting Sophina and Tatiana was…you’re standing in front of this person who’s been through these things you’ve heard about in the news. You realize that it’s real.

Fruitvale Station opens in theaters this Friday.

]]> http://waytooindie.com/interview/interview-ryan-coogler-of-fruitvale-station/feed/ 0 http://waytooindie.com/interview/interview-melonie-diaz-of-fruitvale-station/ http://waytooindie.com/interview/interview-melonie-diaz-of-fruitvale-station/#respond Mon, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 http://waytooindie.com/?p=13344 We spoke to star Melonie Diaz (Be Kind Rewind, A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints), who plays Sophina Mesa, Oscar’s real-life girlfriend, in a tiny roundtable interview the day after the film’s premiere in Oakland. She talked with us about her chemistry with Michael B. Jordan, what she thinks of the Bay Area, what it […]]]>

We spoke to star Melonie Diaz (Be Kind Rewind, A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints), who plays Sophina Mesa, Oscar’s real-life girlfriend, in a tiny roundtable interview the day after the film’s premiere in Oakland. She talked with us about her chemistry with Michael B. Jordan, what she thinks of the Bay Area, what it was like meeting Sophina, the tremendous support the film’s received, and more. Check out the edited transcript below.

Read More Fruitvale Station Interviews:

Michael B. Jordan and Octavia Spencer
Ryan Coogler
Ahna O’Reilly

What was your reaction to first reading the script, and how familiar were you with the Oscar Grant story?
I’d never heard about the story before. I’m from the East Coast, so I was completely infuriated. How could something like this have gone under the radar the way that it did? I [watched] the Youtube video, and it pissed me off even more. I Skyped with Ryan (Coogler), and he’s obviously a young person with so much passion and conviction. He knew the story in and out, and [his reasons for wanting to make the movie] were better than anything I’d heard. I said I want more than anything to be a part of this project.

You and Michael have great chemistry. How was it working with him?
We were lucky—we were able to come to the Bay a little earlier and we’d just hang out. My biggest pet peeve is when you work on a movie and you meet somebody and they’re like, “Alright, you’re husband and wife. Act!” It was really important for us to have time spent. There’s something really simple about it, but it makes all the difference. We went to a basketball game, cooked together, ate food, and drank a lot— little things like that where you really get to know a person.

What do you think of the Bay?
I freaking love the Bay! I had the best time here. I mean, I was working all the time, but I like the vibe and there’s a community here. Before I came people kind of gave it a bad rap.

(laughs) What did they say?
Oakland does have a big crime rate. It’s kind of unfortunate that that’s the front page of the city. It’s a great freaking city.

What was it like meeting Sophina (Mesa, Oscar Grant’s girlfriend)?
Intense. I get emotional about it. It sucks. I think she’s as much a victim as Oscar is. She’s an example of so many women who have to raise their family alone and have to tell their daughters what happened to their dad. It’s heavy.

When did you watch the film for the first time?
I watched it with my mom on my computer.

How was that compared to watching it with an audience at Sundance and Cannes?
Completely different. Watching it by myself I was more self-consumed like, “Ah! I don’t want to watch myself!” Every actor does that. Watching it at Sundance, Cannes, and even yesterday (at the Oakland premiere), I think it’s somewhat the same. People are equally angry and moved, and that’s why the story is universally important. I think people are really identifying with Oscar. Everybody knows what it’s like to be 22, be a mess, not know who you are, be in a difficult relationship, and try to make all the things that are wrong around you right.

Were you expecting the crowd at Cannes to react the way they did?
No, because I know the French community is quite fickle. They’ve booed a number of films over the years. The French…their taste is so high class, so there was a lot of pressure going in. To have a standing ovation for ten minutes and have people respond in a different country…it kind of made us feel like we were on to something special. Also, I think the French like to agree with everything that’s wrong with America, and the movie touches upon the things that are wrong in this society right now, whether it’s racial profiling or gun control.

What was your approach to the script?
I wanted to approach it from the family dynamic side. The movie is about social injustice, but it’s also about family and what it’s like to be in a relationship and have a daughter. I wanted to show that [Oscar] was a family man and he was a good person. I gave my dentist a ticket to the movie and she emailed me afterwards. She said, “I can’t wait to go home and hug my son.” That’s so powerful, and that’s what we wanted to show. He’s a person we all loved.

Talk a bit about Ryan and what it’s like working with him as an actor.
It’s so rare for me to work with a director so close to my age. He’s actually younger than me. That’s never happened before. He has more conviction and passion in one finger than all of us. It kind of blows my mind. The process of making this movie was not easy. There were a lot of emotional days where we’re all screaming, crying, angry, but you feel incredibly safe. He protects you. Even on a low indie budget movie where you have no time, I never saw him sweat. You never want your director to sweat. Working on a project like this where you’re so invested and going through these emotional ups and downs…you’re a little bit of a wreck. It’s nice to have somebody on your side like him because you know no matter what he’s going to have your back.

I remember the day before all the BART scenes I emailed him saying I was scared. He wrote me this long, eloquent email of reasons why I should not be scared. He doesn’t have any time, and he’s writing me this long…he has my back, and it’s really refreshing for a young director to have that much care for his actors.

What was it like when the film won the awards at Sundance?
I was like, “OH. MY. GOD.” This movie is so topical. I did this movie called American Son, which is about this kid’s last day before he goes off to war. People didn’t want to buy it after Sundance. It was almost as if they were in shock. They didn’t really want to deal with the issues. So, when Fruitvale won, I was like, wow, people actually want to have a conversation about these things that are affecting us on a daily basis. I wasn’t sure, even while making the movie—we’re taking a risk, making a movie about something that may not [get everybody to respond.] To have people respond the way they’ve been responding is completely bonkers.

Do you approach a role as a real person the same way you would approach a fictional character?
I think when you’re playing a real person there’s not as much room to play. You have to respect that person for who they are and be honest about what they bring to the table. It’s not really about you. It’s about bringing their qualities out.

The beautiful thing about the movie is that you show that you show Oscar, flaws and all. Your character is sort of like a surrogate for the audience. There’s a great scene where you’re angry with Oscar, pointing out all of his flaws…but you end up forgiving him.
[When] I met Sophina, the one thing that was most apparent to me was how much she loved him. That was the love of her life. That was her best friend—she knew him better than anyone, I think. I truly believe that, and Ryan believes that, too. I don’t know what it is to lose somebody like that, but I know what it’s like to love somebody like that. When you love somebody like that, your love is unconditional, and that was the through-line for Sophina. She’s a loyal, loving mother and companion. I’m not married and I don’t have a child, but I think after getting to know her, that’s the foundation of who she is.

When you first read the script, was there a scene that stood out to you?
The scene with Octavia and Mike in the jail. That’s the scene that made me want to do this movie. I still get emotional about it. It’s so fucked up! The scene that makes me cry every time is the scene with the dog. That’s when I start to crumble. It’s foreshadowing the inevitable death [of Oscar.]

How do you suppress your expectations when heading into a project like this?
I don’t think you should ever expect anything. I don’t care if you’re in a 50 million dollar budget movie. It’s about the work. It’s about making the best movie you can possibly make. If you get the accolades, great. But if not…whatever. People shouldn’t be in it for that. That’s why I think this movie is so successful, because nobody cared about that crap. We actually cared about Oscar.

Fruitvale Station opens in theaters this Friday.

]]> http://waytooindie.com/interview/interview-melonie-diaz-of-fruitvale-station/feed/ 0 http://waytooindie.com/interview/interview-michael-b-jordan-and-octavia-spencer-of-fruitvale-station/ http://waytooindie.com/interview/interview-michael-b-jordan-and-octavia-spencer-of-fruitvale-station/#respond Mon, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 http://waytooindie.com/?p=13319 We spoke to Michael B. Jordan (The Wire, Friday Night Lights), who plays Oscar in the film, and Octavia Spencer (The Help) who plays Oscar’s mother, Wanda Grant, in a tiny roundtable interview the day after the film’s premiere in Oakland. They spoke to us about their reactions to the shooting, meeting Oscar’s family, learning […]]]>

We spoke to Michael B. Jordan (The Wire, Friday Night Lights), who plays Oscar in the film, and Octavia Spencer (The Help) who plays Oscar’s mother, Wanda Grant, in a tiny roundtable interview the day after the film’s premiere in Oakland. They spoke to us about their reactions to the shooting, meeting Oscar’s family, learning to curb their expectations in the movie industry, and why the film is able to touch the hearts of people across the globe. Check out the edited transcript below.

Read More Fruitvale Station Interviews:

Ryan Coogler
Ahna O’Reilly
Melonie Diaz

Before you were approached for the project, how knowledgeable were you on the Oscar Grant story?
Octavia Spencer: I did hear about it when it happened, but to put it in context, that was also the year that Barack Obama had been elected, so I was in more of a jubilant state of mind and decided since I was in that celebratory state of mind, I wasn’t really going to allow anything else to permeate that. I didn’t, unfortunately, revisit it until it was brought up as a project.

Michael B. Jordan: Same here. I remember being on my laptop and somebody posted the video on my wall. I remember looking at it and being disgusted by it, watching it over and over again trying to make it make sense, rationalize it, or justify it, but there was no justification. I felt helpless and a little bit angry. It feels like there’s nothing you can do in the moment, so life goes on. Four years later, this project pops up and I had to jump at the opportunity. I felt a certain responsibility to get the story out there.

What attracted you to the project?
Michael B. Jordan: The opportunity to express [myself] as a person of color, as a person from the inner-city who’s been put in situations like that before. Also the opportunity to give this guy some of his humanity back that was kind of lost over the [course of the] trial. To tell this guy’s story and hopefully prevent it from happening again.

Octavia Spencer: It resonated with me as a woman. I’m not a mother, but I have nephews who would be contemporaries of Oscar’s and Michael’s. I almost didn’t take the part because when I saw the video I felt that all I had to offer it was anger. Because the Trayvon Martin case was so topical, I felt like anger was the wrong emotion to associate with it because it was so public and it was so volatile an issue here in the Bay Area. My agent made me read the script and I found it refreshing to learn that Ryan Coogler—who is also an African-American male—could have written a movie that was an indictment of our judicial system, an indictment of our public service, but he didn’t. What he did was choose to—as Michael said—restore some of Oscar’s humanity, showing his flaws and showing him doing regular human interaction with his family. That was really profound.

How did you approach the movie already knowing the fate of Oscar Grant?
Michael B. Jordan: Honestly, you have to put yourself in that position. That’s the last 24 hours of his life. His death is such a small fraction of the film. I think the movie is about this young man who’s trying to do right by the people he loves, trying to figure out this thing called life that nobody seems to have the blueprint to. You have to make mistakes. You have to get to know him through the family—through his daughter, through his mom, through Sophina, his best friends—and kind of live in the moment, honestly. That’s all this movie [is]—Oscar’s moments.

Octavia Spencer: It’s acting 101. You can only deal with the given circumstances. Wanda has no idea that her son is going to die at the end of the day. Neither does he. You have to really immerse yourself in the world.

Neither of you have kids, so what did you channel to portray such loving parents?
Octavia Spencer: I am not a parent, but I do have family members that I love. It’s about the truthfulness of the relationship and the bonds that we feel with our family members. That was the toughest part for me. It’s about being true to the relationship.

Michael B. Jordan: I love kids. I’ve got little cousins running around, so I’m always interacting with younger kids. Honestly, I can’t wait to be a dad one day. Sometimes when you deal with so many adults in this industry with ulterior motives it’s like one big chess match. You’re always trying to figure out somebody’s angle. When you’re around a kid who has no bad habits, still learning good from bad, it’s refreshing to be around that. Playing with that relationship was a lot of fun.

How was it when you met Oscar’s family for the very first time?
Michael B. Jordan: My approach was meeting everybody and getting as much information up front, before I started doing this thing. Then, just building this guy up. You have the skeleton, then you have to keep layering up, layering up. By the time we actually started filming, you have a pretty good idea of who this guy is, and then you just live with him throughout the rest of the film. That was my approach.

Octavia Spencer: I second that. We had different windows of opportunity to do that, for me much more limited, but I’m also not carrying the entire film as Michael is. It was important to meet Wanda because there’s only so much you can gleam from the information provided via the internet. Ryan is a prolific researcher and he viewed her a lot, so I was given those tapes. When I actually had the chance to sit down and meet with her and realize that we were so different…those are things you can’t possibly know. It was about trying to emulate the essence of Wanda because I had a truncated window of prep time. I knew all that I needed to know except for those intangibles, and meeting her filled in the blanks.

Michael, you played a character on Friday Night Lights, Vince, who is, similarly to Oscar, trying to turn his life around. What’s it like creating a character over seasons as opposed to a single day, as in Fruitvale Station?
Michael B. Jordan: I’ve been fortunate enough to work with some very talented writers that seem to write human relationships so well. With Vince, it’s a different pace because it’s a longer arc. With this movie…I feel like if you spend a day with anybody, from sunup to sundown, through their day to day routine, you can get a pretty good idea of who somebody is. I think that formula works very well with Oscar because that day was so eventful for him. He interacted with a lot of people that he cared about the most and was putting them in a vast number of situations that show different sides of him. You got a chance to see him when nobody was looking…which I think really defines somebody’s character. Then, you see him through different flashbacks and different tools of storytelling. You got a chance to see this guy when he didn’t have such a handle on his temper. You see him in moments with his daughter. You see all these different, complex sides of this guy all compacted into one day. You try to do the best you can to make him as real as possible. You just want to make it real and relatable.

How do you suppress expectations before you begin a project like this?
Octavia Spencer: You don’t have them! You can’t have expectations because the reality of Fruitvale Station, when you look at all the independents that people shoot—usually, they don’t get to go the festival route. Sometimes, they sit in a can and nobody ever gets to see them. You can’t enter into anything like that with expectations. At least, I don’t.

Michael B. Jordan: From a young age of acting, going to auditions and getting your hopes up all the time…you think you did a good job. “I’m going to get it!” When you’re young, you don’t understand that there are so many other things that come into play. When you have a few letdowns, you start to mentally train yourself to not have expectations. You learn how things work in the system. You realize how not in control you are. Once you understand that, it’s easier for you to put your all into [something], walk away and say, “Whatever happens, happens.”

The film is about a specific community, the East Bay Area, that’s generally unfamiliar to people across the country. Why do you think it touches people across the globe, like it did at Cannes?
Michael B. Jordan: It’s universal. Everybody knows what it’s like to lose a loved one, lose life, or to care about somebody, or to love somebody. [Fruitvale Station] is like a love story in so many ways. It’s about Oscar’s love for his family and his family’s love for [him.] Anybody who’s had a best friend or a mom or a daughter who they care about can relate to somebody being taken away from them. I think when [someone’s] taken away in such a fashion that [Oscar] was, it hits people and they’re affected by it. That’s one of the many themes that people relate to no matter what language you speak or where you’re from.

Octavia Spencer: Absolutely. A mother’s love, a father’s love—those are universal themes. Injustice is a universal theme. We all can understand that and I think that’s why the jargon that might not translate into another language…you still see the human emotion on the screen, and it reads.

Was there a particular scene that you read in the script that made you think, “I really have to do this.”
Octavia Spencer: The script as a whole captured my heart. That’s the other thing that you learn as an actor: Don’t fall in love with scenes! It may not make it to the final cut.

Michael B. Jordan: As a whole, I read the script and I was very moved. I cried while reading, which was not an easy thing to do. Favorite scene? There’s a couple, but probably the prison scene. The scene with the dog I had fun reading and shooting at the same time. After shooting, I thought, “That was one of my favorite scenes.” Those two really jumped out at me.

Octavia Spencer: At my second viewing at Cannes I got the profundity of [the dog scene.] I don’t even know if Ryan intended to do this, but the pitbull is a symbol of fear and terror—marginalized. Then, he’s killed and the driver never slows down. It’s not a stretch to say that the character of Oscar Grant was viewed in the same way. It was this beautiful harbinger use of foreshadowing by Ryan. I just thought it was a dog the first time, but when I saw it the second time, I was like, “It’s a pitbull!” It really affected me. You know, I’m an English major, so you always have to look for, “What’s the metaphor?” and all that stuff. I thought that was very profound.

What has the feedback from people in the Bay Area been?
Octavia Spencer: We just got her last night, but I can tell you the feedback in the theater that we were in was very positive. Usually, when you have Q&A’s, a lot of people leave, but they stayed. I guess time will tell, but gauging from the audience last night it was very positive.

Michael B. Jordan: That was the first time anybody from up here had a chance to see it, so we’re curious to see how it affects the community who lost [Oscar.] Time will tell.

Fruitvale Station opens in theaters this Friday.

]]> http://waytooindie.com/interview/interview-michael-b-jordan-and-octavia-spencer-of-fruitvale-station/feed/ 0 http://waytooindie.com/interview/interview-ahna-oreilly-of-fruitvale-station/ http://waytooindie.com/interview/interview-ahna-oreilly-of-fruitvale-station/#respond Mon, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 http://waytooindie.com/?p=13324 We spoke to Ahna O’Reilly (The Help) who plays Katie, a girl who meets Oscar by chance, shares a pleasant interaction with him, and later becomes a witness to the horrific shooting in a tiny roundtable interview the day after the film premiered in Oakland. She talked to us about her friendship with The Help […]]]>

We spoke to Ahna O’Reilly (The Help) who plays Katie, a girl who meets Oscar by chance, shares a pleasant interaction with him, and later becomes a witness to the horrific shooting in a tiny roundtable interview the day after the film premiered in Oakland. She talked to us about her friendship with The Help and Fruitvale Station costar Octavia Spencer, her first time watching the film with an audience, shooting at the titular train station, and more. Check out the edited transcript below.

Read More Fruitvale Station Interviews:

Ryan Coogler
Michael B. Jordan and Octavia Spencer
Melonie Diaz

How was the premiere?
It was wonderful. I felt more excited for this premiere in Oakland than any one we’ve had.

How familiar were you with the story of Oscar Grant?
Embarrassingly, not enough. I lived in LA at the time it happened, but my parents still lived here. I remember talking about it with them vaguely. One of the things that is most crazy and upsetting about this is that I didn’t have one conversation with people about it in LA. Most people that see this movie, this is the first they’re going to hear of it. One of the main differences between the premiere last night (in Oakland) and the other premieres we’ve had—at Sundance, at Cannes—is that most of those people had no idea who Oscar Grant was. When I’m talking to people about this movie, it’s rarer that they know who Oscar Grant is. That is tragic.

You don’t work with her on the film, but talk about your friendship with Octavia and how she got you involved with the film.
Octavia and I worked together on The Help, but we actually worked together before that. She and I have been friends for years. She’s one of my best friends. I was working on a film in Savannah, Georgia at the time they were shooting Fruitvale Station. She called me and she said, “Can you come be a part of this movie? We need someone to play this part. Please please please?” I was like, “I would do anything for you!” I read the script and I thought, she’s giving me such a huge gift. She’s acting like I’m doing her this huge favor, but she’s just given me such a gift. Being from the Bay Area, to be a part of telling this story, to be working with such an incredible group of artists—it doesn’t get any better.

Is your character is based on anyone?
Ryan told me that [my character] was a combination of a lot of different people. Because it was a combination of people, I didn’t feel I had to base my character on someone 100 percent real. There wasn’t someone I had to go interview. Because this movie came to me so last minute, I was kind of thrown into it. I watched the Youtube footage, I read up on it, but I was kind of thrown into it, which was perfect, because that’s what it was on the train—everyone was just thrown into that dramatic and heart-wrenching and horrible situation. It worked for me to just show up. The grocery store scene is just someone talking to me out of the blue. I actually had no real preparation to do other than I wanted to do my research on Oscar Grant.

Your scene with Oscar in the grocery store goes a long way in showing what kind of a guy Oscar was.
I think the scene is so lovely in that we see Oscar being a great dad, we see him in this moment with this dog, and then we see him having a total random act of kindness with a stranger, and that is such a beautiful trait in him to just want to lend a hand to a community member. Ryan was talking last night about how a lot of what this movie is about is community. I love that little random act of kindness. I think we’re increasingly closed off to the people around us—we’re always on our phone, we’re not looking up and taking people in. That’s what I’m doing in the scene. I’m totally ignoring him, kind of hoping he’s not going to keep talking to me. That’s how I often feel in life, and I have a sense of shame about it. Why didn’t I just say hello to the person helping me out? Why didn’t I just ask them how their day was going? Those little things matter so much. It shows a beautiful side of [Oscar.]

How was it was it watching the movie for the first time with an audience at Sundance?
[It was] incredible. You could hear a pin drop towards the end of the movie. All you heard was people being emotional. [It] didn’t matter—age, sex, race—everyone was shocked. I was a mess. I was sitting next to Michael, gripping him. I knew [the film] would be powerful, but what Ryan did with it really bowled me over. When you have a film going to Sundance, the fact that the film is going to Sundance is exciting, so I was already like, “This is great! We’re here! We made it!” I had no idea [the film] would have the life that it has. I think everyone’s pinching themselves, and it couldn’t happen to a greater group of people who are in this for the purest of reasons—to tell honest, socially relevant stories.

How was it working with Ryan Coogler?
The first scene I shot was the grocery scene, and it was a night shoot. I remember being in [the store] and seeing how he was interacting and talking with everybody and thinking I would literally serve coffee to people on set on his next movie. I want to be around him. He has such a quiet, powerful presence. I think one of the greatest qualities a director can have is finding the balance between being collaborative and wanting to hear everybody’s ideas, but also having a very clear vision. He totally embodied that.

(On the film’s script)
I think it’s brilliant that he started the movie with the real footage. Even if you’ve never heard of Oscar Grant, you know how it ends. The fact that he keeps us glued to the screen, knowing how it’s going to end—that’s an incredible accomplishment.

What was it like filming at Fruitvale Station?
That was one of the most powerful days of work I will probably ever have. On any day of work, you get there and it’s a little chaotic. Who’s going to hair and makeup? Who’s doing what? People are being rushed to where they need to go. Then, we all got [to Fruitvale Station] and it’s like, oh yeah, we’re here. We can see the bullet hole. Ryan took a moment of silence and a prayer circle. It was very, very powerful. Then, you have to get going because you have only until sunlight to make it happen. You’re dealing with a moving train. Those are technically difficult things to have to shoot. It was wild on many levels.

Not all of the train stuff was shot on the same day. The interior train stuff we did down at the Bart repair station. When we were on the Fruitvale Station platform it was a separate shoot.

Why is this film, about such a specific Bay Area community, able to touch people across the world?
I personally wondered how many Europeans watching [the film would know] what Oakland, California is. They know San Francisco, but will they know Oakland? It’s a really American story about a very specific place in our country. You wonder how it will translate [and if] the humor will resonate with them. When [the screening] was over, it got a 10 minute standing ovation. That was incredible. For this [tiny movie]—in terms of budget and scale—[to touch] people from around the world…I’m speechless thinking about it. It’s a universal story. Ryan is asking us, the audience, to think about how we treat each other as human beings. [Can we] erase our ideas about what you are because you’re black or you’re from Oakland or you’re 22 or you were in prison? Can we try to push all that aside and try to look at the heart of this person? People from anywhere should be able to think about that. I think that’s why it succeeds.

The French know about the American South. That’s something people have ideas about. They know about New York, Boston. Oakland? I doubt [it.]

Fruitvale Station opens in theaters this Friday.

]]> http://waytooindie.com/interview/interview-ahna-oreilly-of-fruitvale-station/feed/ 0 http://waytooindie.com/news/film-festival/2013-la-film-festival-coverage-introduction/ http://waytooindie.com/news/film-festival/2013-la-film-festival-coverage-introduction/#respond Mon, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 http://waytooindie.com/?p=12706 I’m very excited to attend the 2013 LA Film Festival as this year’s festival has a very solid line up with several specific films I’ve been dying to see. Upon analyzing the lineup, it seems most of the big films are the “popular kids” from more prestigious festivals like Cannes, Toronto and particularly, Sundance. Not […]]]>

I’m very excited to attend the 2013 LA Film Festival as this year’s festival has a very solid line up with several specific films I’ve been dying to see. Upon analyzing the lineup, it seems most of the big films are the “popular kids” from more prestigious festivals like Cannes, Toronto and particularly, Sundance. Not that this is a bad thing, but Hollywood isn’t quite known for its originality and they’re basically presenting a “best of what’s played.” That’s great for me as I have not attended any other of the major festivals. Here’s what I’m chomping at the bit to see—

Most Anticipated films to play at LA Film Festival

Ain’t Them Bodies Saints

I’m particularly psyched for this Badlands-esque period noir that looks gorgeous, moody, and let’s not forget violent. The film boasts an amazing cast— Casey Affleck who can do no wrong playing a psychotic creep; Rooney Mara who has proved herself a solid versatile actor and desperately needs to shrug off the lingering Goth image festering from the wretched Dragon Tattoo film; and a slew of excellent character actors who I adore, Ben Foster and Keith Carradine among them.

Trailer for Ain’t Them Bodies Saints:

Only God Forgives

I’m a huge fan of Nicolas Winding Refn from back to his Pusher days and I obviously loved Drive. His new Gosling project appears to be a continuation of the hyper-cool neon noir aesthetic established in Drive, but this time he’s tackled a new action sub-genre— the Muay Thai Boxing film. The love it or hate it (mostly hate) reaction from Cannes only makes me want to see it more, although my expectations are probably so high that I’m bound to be let down.

Trailer for Only God Forgives:

Short Term 12

I heard this was the best film at Sundance this year and I like Brie Larson from United States of Tara and 21 Jumpstreet. While I do take that label with a gain of salt as I’ve found that the best of Sundance often means mediocre when plopped into theaters. However, the trailer displays the elements of a moving and unsentimental drama, which Hollywood studios have become incapable of producing. I want Short Term 12 to make me cry.

Trailer for Short Term 12:

Fruitvale Station

Again, Fruitvale Station is coasting on some nice Sundance buzz. Weinstein has picked up the film for distribution and they usually have a knack for picking fine films. While I do think this one could veer into clichéd white-guilt Hollywood territory, I’ve heard an excellent performance from Chronicle star Michael B. Jordan carries the film. I’m open to have my cynicism proved wrong.

Trailer for Fruitvale Station:

Crystal Fairy

Director Sebastián Silva has two films at the fest, Crystal Fairy and Magic Magic. Both films star Michael Cera, but I’ve vaguely heard that Crystal Fairy is both weirder and better. I don’t know much about the story other than Cera travels somewhere in Central America and gets into some insanity. I’m waiting to find Cera in a role that allows him to break through his thick type-cast and my gut tells me this could be the one.

The Act of Killing

I’m not as knowledgeable about documentaries as I should be but the offbeat ones often catch my attention. This image alone urged me to put The Act of Killing on my schedule. Reading about this meta-bomb of history, interviews, reenactments, musical numbers and Asian film history exploring Indonesian death squads sounds too weird not to see. Plus it will likely be fascinating piece of history

Trailer for The Act of Killing:

You’re Next

Any mention of the possibility of a great new Horror film peaks my interest, especially one that wowed Toronto’s midnight lineup. All I know about the story is that it manages a sly twist on the sadistic home-invasion subgenre. Also, modern horror icon Ti West acts in it, which is both strange and enticing. Hopefully it’s not another Cabin Fever.

Trailer for You’re Next:

David O. Russell

David O. Russell is receiving the spirit of independence award at this year’s LA Film Festival. He’s been one of my favorite directors since high school and he’s managed not to become stale. He’s bounced back from I Heart Huckabees (while I adore) and an unreleased/failed film project with two excellent studio films that display a newly reinvigorated artist. I greatly enjoy hearing directors talk and I certainly won’t miss one of my favorites, who I’m sure has a lot to say. A screening of Three Kings precedes the discussion!

Spike Jonze

Not to sound redundant, but Spike Jonze, another excellent director who will be there to talk about his career. He’s reportedly showing a sizzle-reel for his upcoming film Her, about a man who falls in love with a computer, and I wouldn’t miss the opportunity to see that or hear this oddball director speak about how he made it. His feature film career has its up and downs but each film has been intriguing and his important contribution to modern society.

Other Stuff

The festival is holding a pre-screening of Superman (Man of Steel). Zach Synder has not made a good film since his debut, Dawn of the Dead, but between the internet buzz and a brutal studio marketing campaign I can’t help but be a little swept up in the excitement. There’s a chance I won’t make it into the packed screening though.

I recently attended a press screening of the indie sci-fi film, Europa Report, which is playing at the festival. I was very excited for this documentary-style take on a manned space flight to Jupiter’s ice moon Europa. But unfortunately it’s pretty lame (I’ll post a review).

I’m also excited to see Johnnie To’s Drug War, the documentary Our Nixon, Winter in the Blood and Lesson of Evil.

Stay tuned as we bring you coverage of the LA Film Festival which starts tomorrow through June 23rd

]]> http://waytooindie.com/news/film-festival/2013-la-film-festival-coverage-introduction/feed/ 0 http://waytooindie.com/news/film-festival/way-too-indies-most-anticipated-films-at-cannes-2013/ http://waytooindie.com/news/film-festival/way-too-indies-most-anticipated-films-at-cannes-2013/#respond Mon, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 http://waytooindie.com/?p=11982 The 2013 Cannes Film Festival is just around the corner so we thought we would bring you our most anticipated films that will be playing this year. Because a lot of the films at the festival will be making their world-wide premiere, most of the films do not have a trailer to go by just […]]]>

The 2013 Cannes Film Festival is just around the corner so we thought we would bring you our most anticipated films that will be playing this year. Because a lot of the films at the festival will be making their world-wide premiere, most of the films do not have a trailer to go by just yet. Therefore, making our picks of the most anticipated films strikes an interesting challenge. There will be hidden gems at Cannes that will come out of nowhere, but here are the films we look forward to the most. Stick around Way Too Indie as we will be attending the festival this year and providing you coverage.

Most Anticipated Films At 2013 Cannes

The Bling Ring

Sofia Coopla’s latest offering, The Bling Ring, has gathered a lot of attention and rightfully so. Most of that attention has likely come from having the beloved Emma Watson “going wild” so to speak, playing a character who is not completely likeable. The Bling Ring is based upon actual events of a group of Hollywood obsessed teenagers who break into the homes of celebrities and steal their possessions. If it ends up being as wacky and ridiculous as it seems, The Bling Ring could be a wildly fun ride. [Dustin]

La grande bellezza (The Great Beauty)

Is it really a surprise that the director of WTI’s favourite film of 2012 is on this list? For those of us who loved This Must Be The Place, we can’t wait for what Paolo Sorrentino has in store next. Teaming up again with Toni Servillo, who was fantastic in Sorrentino’s previous film Il Divo, The Great Beauty is relatively light on plot details right now. What’s known is that Servillo plays Jep Gambardella, a 65 year old writer whose personal dramas make up the film. It seems like anything more specific than that will be saved for later, but there’s a trailer that might be helpful for those who speak Italian and/or French. Whether or not Sorrentino can deliver another great film remains to be seen, but either way we’ll surely be checking out The Great Beauty ASAP if we get the chance. [CJ]

Only God Forgives

I initially wanted to just type: “Refn. Gosling. Drive. Enough said.” for my reasoning to see this, but I am asked to give more. 2 years ago Nicolas Winding-Refn took Cannes (and many other film festivals worldwide) by storm with this violent, bright, pop filled, bubble gum popping, Los Angeles based crime thriller that featured Ryan Gosling as a nameless hero tasked with taking on a bunch of ruthless gangsters who happen to mess with the wrong stunt driver. Refn snagged the Best Director prize and Gosling went on to movie stardom. Now in Only God Forgives they’re back, together, with….you guessed it. A violent, but beautifully shot, crime film set in Bangkok. Gosling is asked by his mother (Kristin Scott Thomas, primed for an Oscar nomination) to kill the man who murdered his brother. This film looks to be BRUTAL. But Gosling and Refn are more than up to the challenge. This is shaping up to be one of the most popular films at the fest. Keep an eye out for this one. [Blake]

Fruitvale Station

Every year the Cannes Film Festival brings in one or two of the most talked about titles that played at the Sundance Film Festival back in January to make their international premiere debut. Fruitvale Station (formerly titled Fruitvale) impressed more than just the audience and the critics as the Weinstein Company snatched up the rights during the festival. Fruitvale Station takes place on the last day of Oscar Grant’s life, observing all the encounters he came across on his final day. First time filmmaker Ryan Coogler could be a name to remember if the initial responses of the film hold true. [Dustin]

Wara No Tate (Shield of Straw)

Takashi Miike has had quite the journey. He first established himself in the J-horror craze with shockers like Audition and Ichi The Killer, but over the years he’s shown how versatile and talented he truly is. From kid’s movies (Zebraman) to getting banned from TV (Imprint), Miike has covered plenty of genres while maintaining an output of at least two films a year (he released 3 movies last year, including a musical and a video game adaptation). The downside to Miike’s berserk work schedule is that his films may be hit or miss, but Wara No Tate sounds like a hit if done right. A billionaire offers a massive reward for the murder of his granddaughter’s (supposed) killer. The billionaire’s target immediately hands himself over to the police, and as they transport him across the country back to Tokyo a number of assassins try to claim the billionaire’s reward. Miike hasn’t made anything as good as 13 Assassins, one of his best films and a soon to be classic of the samurai genre, but this material sounds like a perfect fit for him. [CJ]

Jodorowsky’s Dune

Alejandro Jodorowsky is one of the most original, surreal, fantastical directors to ever grace a movie screen. Dune by Frank Herbert is considered one of the best (if not the best) Science Fiction novel ever written and many fans deem it un-filmable. David Lynch tried in the 80’s and was a critical and box office failure. Now comes this documentary on the Chilean director’s ambitious attempt to film the impossible. This will surely be a wild ride as the filmmakers have a plethora of material to work with. From the massive preparation the director and his team did to interviews with online film critics and Hollywood directors who love the director, this could be a nice surprise in the wealth of films being presented at the festival this year. [Blake]

Inside Llewyn Davis

The Coen Brothers are no strangers to the Cannes Film Festival. Inside Llewyn Davis will mark an impressive ninth visit to the film festival along the French Riviera for the brother duo. Not only does the trailer make the story of following a folk songwriter set in New York in the 1960s look interesting, it should naturally have a great soundtrack as well. CBS Films bought up the U.S. rights to Inside Llewyn Davis which may cast a small shadow of doubt considering their past track record of releases, however, this is a Coen Brothers film we are talking about. They are highly respected filmmakers that hold themselves to a certain standard, right? [Dustin]

Blind Detective

It seems that most of the films I want to see are playing outside of competition. Johnnie To, for those who don’t know, is one of the best genre directors working today. Using his production company Milkyway Image along with his usual collaborators (including his co-writer and sometimes co-director Wai Ka-Fai), To has created terrific films that range from romantic comedies to supernatural detective stories. After a detour with some romantic comedies and Life Without Principle, a drama centered around the recent worldwide financial crisis, To is back in action mode. Blind Detective follows, naturally, a former detective who left the force after losing his sight while on duty. Now spending his time helping cops solve cold cases, a young up and coming detective asks him to help her find her missing childhood friend. The plot may sound contrived, but Johnnie To is one of the best when it comes to making these stories feel fresh and exciting. Hopefully Blind Detective will be able to sit alongside Mad Detective, the Election films and Exiled among To’s best work. [CJ]

Nebraska

Alexander Payne is probably one of my favorite contemporary filmmakers. Sideways was an instant classic (not to mention one of my favorite films period) and The Descendants two years ago was a great family drama in the same vein. Not to mention films like About Schmidt and Election in his repertoire as well. His newest film concerns an aging, near alcoholic man who teams up with his long estranged son to embark on a trip from Montana to Nebraska to claim a lottery ticket that is worth millions. Sounds minimal from the outset, but like all Payne efforts, this will probably have multiple layers to it. [Blake]

]]> http://waytooindie.com/news/film-festival/way-too-indies-most-anticipated-films-at-cannes-2013/feed/ 0 http://waytooindie.com/news/film-festival/cannes-2013-lineup-announced/ http://waytooindie.com/news/film-festival/cannes-2013-lineup-announced/#comments Mon, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 http://waytooindie.com/?p=11516 The wait is now over as the lineup for the 2013 Cannes Film Festival has been announced this morning. While a few film festivals such as Sundance and Berlin have already given us a small taste of what is in store for 2013, Cannes ultimately sets the stage for what is to come for the […]]]>

The wait is now over as the lineup for the 2013 Cannes Film Festival has been announced this morning. While a few film festivals such as Sundance and Berlin have already given us a small taste of what is in store for 2013, Cannes ultimately sets the stage for what is to come for the rest of the year’s festival circuit. Also, it is my pleasure to announce that Way Too Indie has been accredited to attend the festival this year, so stay tuned during May 15th through May 26th while we bring you up-to-date coverage during the Cannes Film Festival.

Now back to the lineup, it has been known for quite some time that The Great Gatsby would be the opening film of the festival and yesterday it was announced that Sofia Coppola’s The Bling Ring would open the Un Certain Regard program. This morning the rest of the lineup for the Cannes Film Festival was finally announced. Some of the more anticipated films that were announced today were; Coen Brothers’ Inside Llewyn Davis, Nicolas Winding Refn’s Only God Forgives, Steven Soderbergh’s Behind The Candelabra, Paolo Sorrentino’s The Great Beauty, and Sundance standout Fruitvale Station previously entitled just Fruitvale.

Unfortunately, absent from the announcement was Steve McQueen’s follow-up to Shame, Twelve Years a Slave. There was also no works from the onslaught of projects Terrence Malick has going on. And many people were disappointed to hear that Bong Joon-Ho’s rumored to play film, Snowpiercer, would not be done in time for the festival.

The full lineup for 2013 Cannes Film Festival:

Opening Film: (Out of Competition)

The Great Gatsby (director Baz Luhrmann)

Official Selection

Behind The Candelabra (director Steven Soderbergh)
Borgman (director Alex Van Warmerdam)
Un Chateau En Italie (director Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi)
The Great Beauty (director Paolo Sorrentino)
Grisgris (director Mahamat-Saleh Haroun)
Heli (director Amat Escalante)
The Immigrant (director James Gray)
Inside Llewyn Davis (directors Joel & Ethan Coen)
Jeune Et Jolie (director Francois Ozon)
Jimmy P (director Arnaud Desplechin)
Michael Kohlhaas (director Arnaud Despallieres)
Nebraska (director Alexander Payne)
Only God Forgives (director Nicolas Winding Refn)
Only Lovers Left Alive (director Jim Jarmusch)
The Past (director Asghar Farhadi)
Like Father, Like Son (director Hirokazu Kore-eda)
A Touch Of Sin (director Zhangke Jia)
Venus In Fur (director Roman Polanski)
La Vie D’Adele (director Abdellatif Kechiche)
Shield of Straw (director Takashi Miike)

Out of Competition: (Films are played but do not compete for the main prize)

All Is Lost (director J.C Chandor)
Blood Ties (director Guillaume Canet)
The Last of the Unjust (director Claude Lanzmann)

Un Certain Regard: (Films from cultures near and far; original and different works)

Anonymous (director Mohammad Rasoulof)
As I Lay Dying (director James Franco)
Nothing Bad Can Happen (director Katrin Gebbe)
Bends (director Flora Lau)
The Bling Ring (director Sofia Coppola)
Death March (director Adolfo Alix Jr)
Fruitvale Station (director Ryan Coogler)
Grand Central (director Rebecca Zlotowski)
L’Image Manquante (Rithy Panh)
L’Inconnu Du Lac (director Alain Guiraudie)
La Jaula De Oro (director Diego Quemada)
Miele (director Valeria Golino)
My Sweet Pepperland (director Hiner Saleem)
Norte, The End of History (director Lav Diaz)
Omar (director Hany Abu-Assad)
The Bastards (director Claire Denis)
Sarah Would Rather Run (director Chloe Robichaud)
Wakolda (director Lucia Puenzo)

Special Screenings:

Max Rose (director Daniel Noah)
Weekend Of A Champion (director Roman Polanski)
Muhammad Ali’s Greatest Fight (director Stephen Frears)
Stop The Pounding Heart (director Roberto Minervini)
Seduced & Abandoned (director James Toback)
Otdat Konci (director Taisia Igumentseva)
Bombay Talkies (directors Anurag Kashyap, Dibakar Banerjee, Zoya Akhtar, Karan Johar)

Closing Film: (Out of Competition)

Zulu (director Jérôme Salle)

Director’ Fortnight: (Sidebar event held in parallel to Cannes)

Above the Hill (director Raphael Nadjari)
Até ver a luz (director Basil da Cunha)
Blue Ruin (director Jeremy Saulnier)
The Summer of Flying Fish (director Marcela Said)
Henri (director Yolande Moreau)
Ilo ilo (director Anthony Chen)
Jodorowsky’s Dune (director Frank Pavich)
L’Escale (director Kaveh Bakhtiari)
The Dance of Reality (director Alejandro Jodorowsky)
The Rendez-Vous of Déjà-Vu (director Antonin Peretjatko)
Les Apaches (director Thierry de Peretti)
Me Myself and Mum (director Guillaume Gallienne)
Magic Magic (director Sebastián Silva)
On the Job (director Erik Matti)
The Congress (director Ari Folman)
The Last Days on Mars (director Ruairí Robinson)
The Selfish Giant (director Clio Barnard)
Tip Top (director Serge Bozon)
Ugly (director Anurag Kashyap)
Ain’t Misbehavin (director Marcel Ophuls)
We Are What We Are (director Jim Mickle)

International Critics Week: (Sidebar event held in parallel to Cannes)

Suzanne (director Katell Quillévéré)
Ain’t Them Bodies Saints (director David Lowery)
You and The Night (director Yann Gonzalez)
The Dismantlement (director Sébastien Pilote)
Los Dueños (directors Agustín Toscano & Ezequiel Radusk)
For Those in Peril (director Paul Wright)
The Lunchbox (director Ritesh Batra)
The Major (director Yury Bykov)
Nos héros sont morts ce soir (director David Perrault)
Salvo (directors Fabio Grassadonia & Antonio Piazza)

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