Filmmaker Magazine
@filmmakermagazine.com
A magazine about the art, craft, and future of independent film.
Daily on Substack: http://filmmaker.substack.com/
Subscribe in print: http://account.filmmakermagazine.com/subscribe/
Daily on Substack: http://filmmaker.substack.com/
Subscribe in print: http://account.filmmakermagazine.com/subscribe/
"You're continually incentivizing people to work on the wrong projects ... and you can obviously see the knock-on effects in what's actually getting made." — Daniel Goldhaber
Max Cea reports on the writer-director industrial complex:
filmmaker.substack.com/p/the-myth-o...
Max Cea reports on the writer-director industrial complex:
filmmaker.substack.com/p/the-myth-o...
The Myth of the Multi-Hyphenate
The industry has transformed to favor filmmakers who write their own scripts, making artists with ambitious original ideas feel like they have to do it all.
filmmaker.substack.com
September 22, 2026 at 8:29 PM
"You're continually incentivizing people to work on the wrong projects ... and you can obviously see the knock-on effects in what's actually getting made." — Daniel Goldhaber
Max Cea reports on the writer-director industrial complex:
filmmaker.substack.com/p/the-myth-o...
Max Cea reports on the writer-director industrial complex:
filmmaker.substack.com/p/the-myth-o...
"[THE BATTLE OF CHILE] contains the passion and poetry of telling with real interest what the people were living."
To honor the passing of the great Chilean director Patricio Guzmán, we are revisiting Anthony Kaufman's 2020 interview with him:
filmmaker.substack.com/p/the-indefa...
To honor the passing of the great Chilean director Patricio Guzmán, we are revisiting Anthony Kaufman's 2020 interview with him:
filmmaker.substack.com/p/the-indefa...
The Indefatigable Patricio Guzmán
The late Chilean documentarian reflects on his move from vérité epics to lyrical essay films.
filmmaker.substack.com
September 16, 2026 at 6:35 PM
"[THE BATTLE OF CHILE] contains the passion and poetry of telling with real interest what the people were living."
To honor the passing of the great Chilean director Patricio Guzmán, we are revisiting Anthony Kaufman's 2020 interview with him:
filmmaker.substack.com/p/the-indefa...
To honor the passing of the great Chilean director Patricio Guzmán, we are revisiting Anthony Kaufman's 2020 interview with him:
filmmaker.substack.com/p/the-indefa...
Reposted by Filmmaker Magazine
thank you so much to @filmmakermagazine.com <3 Proud to be alongside my fellow Canucks @avalonfast.bsky.social and @sophyromvari.bsky.social
September 11, 2026 at 6:26 PM
thank you so much to @filmmakermagazine.com <3 Proud to be alongside my fellow Canucks @avalonfast.bsky.social and @sophyromvari.bsky.social
Reposted by Filmmaker Magazine
ICYMI: this old head is honored to be among this year's 25 New Faces of Film in @filmmakermagazine.com!
A thousand thank-yous to @44getting.bsky.social and @celizotte.bsky.social for pole-vaulting me into the pantheon and David Cardoza + Dan Welch of Cashiers du Cinema or capturing my likeness!
A thousand thank-yous to @44getting.bsky.social and @celizotte.bsky.social for pole-vaulting me into the pantheon and David Cardoza + Dan Welch of Cashiers du Cinema or capturing my likeness!
September 14, 2026 at 2:41 PM
ICYMI: this old head is honored to be among this year's 25 New Faces of Film in @filmmakermagazine.com!
A thousand thank-yous to @44getting.bsky.social and @celizotte.bsky.social for pole-vaulting me into the pantheon and David Cardoza + Dan Welch of Cashiers du Cinema or capturing my likeness!
A thousand thank-yous to @44getting.bsky.social and @celizotte.bsky.social for pole-vaulting me into the pantheon and David Cardoza + Dan Welch of Cashiers du Cinema or capturing my likeness!
Pleased to reveal @neon-rated.bsky.social's trailer for David Greaves’s ONCE UPON A TIME IN HARLEM, which revisits footage shot in 1972 by his father, William Greaves, at a gathering of Harlem Renaissance luminaries.
Find Greaves in conversation with Garrett Bradley in our fall issue, out soon!
Find Greaves in conversation with Garrett Bradley in our fall issue, out soon!
September 3, 2026 at 4:05 PM
Pleased to reveal @neon-rated.bsky.social's trailer for David Greaves’s ONCE UPON A TIME IN HARLEM, which revisits footage shot in 1972 by his father, William Greaves, at a gathering of Harlem Renaissance luminaries.
Find Greaves in conversation with Garrett Bradley in our fall issue, out soon!
Find Greaves in conversation with Garrett Bradley in our fall issue, out soon!
Dolly Parton and Tim Curry were "extremely intentional about their presence in the culture, wanting to leave a meaningful mark rather than simply take up space."
In our weekly editor's letter,
@celizotte.bsky.social pens a remembrance of both performers:
filmmaker.substack.com/p/dolly-part...
In our weekly editor's letter,
@celizotte.bsky.social pens a remembrance of both performers:
filmmaker.substack.com/p/dolly-part...
Dolly Parton and Tim Curry Lived Their Truths
Both knew you couldn’t get anywhere without something to say.
filmmaker.substack.com
August 29, 2026 at 1:45 PM
Dolly Parton and Tim Curry were "extremely intentional about their presence in the culture, wanting to leave a meaningful mark rather than simply take up space."
In our weekly editor's letter,
@celizotte.bsky.social pens a remembrance of both performers:
filmmaker.substack.com/p/dolly-part...
In our weekly editor's letter,
@celizotte.bsky.social pens a remembrance of both performers:
filmmaker.substack.com/p/dolly-part...
"Beverly understood how to communicate with filmmakers emotionally. That changed the entire culture." — Bradford Young
Kya Lou moderates a roundtable with film chemist Beverly Wood and cinematographer Bradford Young on the alchemy of color correction:
filmmaker.substack.com/p/beverly-wo...
Kya Lou moderates a roundtable with film chemist Beverly Wood and cinematographer Bradford Young on the alchemy of color correction:
filmmaker.substack.com/p/beverly-wo...
Beverly Woods and Bradford Young on Revolutionizing Film Chemistry
Color correction shapes the emotional cadence and climate in which an image lives.
filmmaker.substack.com
August 28, 2026 at 3:06 PM
"Beverly understood how to communicate with filmmakers emotionally. That changed the entire culture." — Bradford Young
Kya Lou moderates a roundtable with film chemist Beverly Wood and cinematographer Bradford Young on the alchemy of color correction:
filmmaker.substack.com/p/beverly-wo...
Kya Lou moderates a roundtable with film chemist Beverly Wood and cinematographer Bradford Young on the alchemy of color correction:
filmmaker.substack.com/p/beverly-wo...
Take a deep dive into the world of Niu Lai, a bolt from the blue, outsider art blockbuster. @celizotte.bsky.social writes in our weekly editor's letter:
filmmaker.substack.com/p/niu-lai-is...
filmmaker.substack.com/p/niu-lai-is...
“Niu Lai” Is an Outsider Art Blockbuster
The bracingly surreal animated film about a newborn cow has become a phenomenon in China.
filmmaker.substack.com
August 26, 2026 at 6:47 PM
Take a deep dive into the world of Niu Lai, a bolt from the blue, outsider art blockbuster. @celizotte.bsky.social writes in our weekly editor's letter:
filmmaker.substack.com/p/niu-lai-is...
filmmaker.substack.com/p/niu-lai-is...
An essay about Ari Aster would come back to haunt Sophie Lewis in ways she couldn't have predicted.
@kimkelly.bsky.social interviews Lewis about the movie review that was unexpectedly introduced as evidence in the Prairieland ICE Detention Facility case:
filmmaker.substack.com/p/how-a-film...
@kimkelly.bsky.social interviews Lewis about the movie review that was unexpectedly introduced as evidence in the Prairieland ICE Detention Facility case:
filmmaker.substack.com/p/how-a-film...
How a Film Review Ended Up at the Center of a Domestic Terrorism Case
A conversation with feminist scholar Sophie Lewis about the Ari Aster essay that she didn’t expect to be taken out of context.
filmmaker.substack.com
August 25, 2026 at 2:11 PM
An essay about Ari Aster would come back to haunt Sophie Lewis in ways she couldn't have predicted.
@kimkelly.bsky.social interviews Lewis about the movie review that was unexpectedly introduced as evidence in the Prairieland ICE Detention Facility case:
filmmaker.substack.com/p/how-a-film...
@kimkelly.bsky.social interviews Lewis about the movie review that was unexpectedly introduced as evidence in the Prairieland ICE Detention Facility case:
filmmaker.substack.com/p/how-a-film...
Reposted by Filmmaker Magazine
David Lynch @latimes.com, Fatih Akin @nybooks.com, Samy Burch @filmmakermagazine.com, Francis Ford Coppola @ Metrograph, Adam Curtis @thequietus.com …
Did You See This? www.criterion.com/current/post...
Did You See This? www.criterion.com/current/post...
August 21, 2026 at 7:39 PM
David Lynch @latimes.com, Fatih Akin @nybooks.com, Samy Burch @filmmakermagazine.com, Francis Ford Coppola @ Metrograph, Adam Curtis @thequietus.com …
Did You See This? www.criterion.com/current/post...
Did You See This? www.criterion.com/current/post...
"I saw the area as a stage for their ever-shifting relationship. [...] At times, it can seem like heaven; at other times, like hell." — Kiyoshi Kurosawa on THE SAMURAI AND THE PRISONER.
Jawni Han ( @kimchimarx.bsky.social ) speaks with the J-horror auteur:
filmmaker.substack.com/p/dungeon-ma...
Jawni Han ( @kimchimarx.bsky.social ) speaks with the J-horror auteur:
filmmaker.substack.com/p/dungeon-ma...
Dungeon Master: Kiyoshi Kurosawa on “The Samurai and the Prisoner”
Blending “Throne of Blood” with “The Silence of the Lambs,” the J-horror director stages a murder mystery inside a besieged 16th-century castle.
filmmaker.substack.com
August 11, 2026 at 8:19 PM
"I saw the area as a stage for their ever-shifting relationship. [...] At times, it can seem like heaven; at other times, like hell." — Kiyoshi Kurosawa on THE SAMURAI AND THE PRISONER.
Jawni Han ( @kimchimarx.bsky.social ) speaks with the J-horror auteur:
filmmaker.substack.com/p/dungeon-ma...
Jawni Han ( @kimchimarx.bsky.social ) speaks with the J-horror auteur:
filmmaker.substack.com/p/dungeon-ma...
"It's important to me that these works are earnest—not sentimental, but not coming from a place of cynicism."
—Jane Schoenbrun.
From our summer issue, Grace Byron interviews the director of TEENAGE SEX AND DEATH AT CAMP MIASMA:
filmmaker.substack.com/p/jane-schoe...
—Jane Schoenbrun.
From our summer issue, Grace Byron interviews the director of TEENAGE SEX AND DEATH AT CAMP MIASMA:
filmmaker.substack.com/p/jane-schoe...
August 10, 2026 at 9:18 PM
"It's important to me that these works are earnest—not sentimental, but not coming from a place of cynicism."
—Jane Schoenbrun.
From our summer issue, Grace Byron interviews the director of TEENAGE SEX AND DEATH AT CAMP MIASMA:
filmmaker.substack.com/p/jane-schoe...
—Jane Schoenbrun.
From our summer issue, Grace Byron interviews the director of TEENAGE SEX AND DEATH AT CAMP MIASMA:
filmmaker.substack.com/p/jane-schoe...
Reposted by Filmmaker Magazine
For those who missed it, I examined the work of indie action pioneer @ericjacobus.bsky.social for @filmmakermagazine.com.
August 9, 2026 at 8:54 PM
For those who missed it, I examined the work of indie action pioneer @ericjacobus.bsky.social for @filmmakermagazine.com.
Reposted by Filmmaker Magazine
wrote this week’s @filmmakermagazine.com newsletter on Tony, which gave me fresh eyes on Matt Johnson’s earlier work…but it’s a packed weekend for movies, so sign up to be the first to read our summer issue coverage of Camp Miasma and Late Fame next week!
filmmaker.substack.com/p/working-cl...
filmmaker.substack.com/p/working-cl...
Working-Class Zero
Matt Johnson’s “Tony” is less an Anthony Bourdain biopic than a story of masculine role models.
filmmaker.substack.com
August 9, 2026 at 3:03 PM
wrote this week’s @filmmakermagazine.com newsletter on Tony, which gave me fresh eyes on Matt Johnson’s earlier work…but it’s a packed weekend for movies, so sign up to be the first to read our summer issue coverage of Camp Miasma and Late Fame next week!
filmmaker.substack.com/p/working-cl...
filmmaker.substack.com/p/working-cl...
"TONY fits neatly alongside [Matt] Johnson’s other movies, in which characters make decisions informed by the allure of masculine cultural archetypes—and the thin, often self-deluding line between alpha males and beta males."
@celizotte.bsky.social writes:
filmmaker.substack.com/p/working-cl...
@celizotte.bsky.social writes:
filmmaker.substack.com/p/working-cl...
Working-Class Zero
Matt Johnson’s “Tony” is less an Anthony Bourdain biopic than a story of masculine role models.
filmmaker.substack.com
August 7, 2026 at 9:14 PM
"TONY fits neatly alongside [Matt] Johnson’s other movies, in which characters make decisions informed by the allure of masculine cultural archetypes—and the thin, often self-deluding line between alpha males and beta males."
@celizotte.bsky.social writes:
filmmaker.substack.com/p/working-cl...
@celizotte.bsky.social writes:
filmmaker.substack.com/p/working-cl...
"Twenty years ago, a movie filmed for a couple thousand bucks in the Bay Area delivered action sequences that left most Hollywood offerings in the dust."
Read @jonahjeng.bsky.social 's appreciation of CONTOUR, Eric Jacobus's DIY action masterpiece:
filmmaker.substack.com/p/applied-ph...
Read @jonahjeng.bsky.social 's appreciation of CONTOUR, Eric Jacobus's DIY action masterpiece:
filmmaker.substack.com/p/applied-ph...
Applied Physics: The DIY Action Films of Eric Jacobus
The small-town Californian who emulated Hong Kong throwdowns for peanuts.
filmmaker.substack.com
August 7, 2026 at 6:32 PM
"Twenty years ago, a movie filmed for a couple thousand bucks in the Bay Area delivered action sequences that left most Hollywood offerings in the dust."
Read @jonahjeng.bsky.social 's appreciation of CONTOUR, Eric Jacobus's DIY action masterpiece:
filmmaker.substack.com/p/applied-ph...
Read @jonahjeng.bsky.social 's appreciation of CONTOUR, Eric Jacobus's DIY action masterpiece:
filmmaker.substack.com/p/applied-ph...
Reposted by Filmmaker Magazine
Excited to share my debut for @filmmakermagazine.com, focusing on CONTOUR and the indie action films of Eric Jacobus. filmmaker.substack.com/p/applied-ph...
Applied Physics: The DIY Action Films of Eric Jacobus
The small-town Californian who emulated Hong Kong throwdowns for peanuts.
filmmaker.substack.com
August 7, 2026 at 12:09 AM
Excited to share my debut for @filmmakermagazine.com, focusing on CONTOUR and the indie action films of Eric Jacobus. filmmaker.substack.com/p/applied-ph...
"We did what we wanted to do, not what we should have done."
Out from behind the paywall: B. Ruby Rich ( @brubyrich.bsky.social ) speaks to Yashaddai Owens about JIMMY, now playing @ifccenter.bsky.social and elsewhere.
filmmaker.substack.com/p/the-art-of...
Out from behind the paywall: B. Ruby Rich ( @brubyrich.bsky.social ) speaks to Yashaddai Owens about JIMMY, now playing @ifccenter.bsky.social and elsewhere.
filmmaker.substack.com/p/the-art-of...
The Art of Arrival: Yashaddai Owens on “Jimmy”
B. Ruby Rich speaks with the director about his speculative portrait of James Baldwin.
filmmaker.substack.com
August 5, 2026 at 8:07 PM
"We did what we wanted to do, not what we should have done."
Out from behind the paywall: B. Ruby Rich ( @brubyrich.bsky.social ) speaks to Yashaddai Owens about JIMMY, now playing @ifccenter.bsky.social and elsewhere.
filmmaker.substack.com/p/the-art-of...
Out from behind the paywall: B. Ruby Rich ( @brubyrich.bsky.social ) speaks to Yashaddai Owens about JIMMY, now playing @ifccenter.bsky.social and elsewhere.
filmmaker.substack.com/p/the-art-of...
"This was my way of saying 'fuck it.'"
Steve Macfarlane interviews Ngozi Onwurah about WELCOME II THE TERRORDOME, the first British film by a Black woman, back in theaters after 30 years:
filmmaker.substack.com/p/in-the-hou...
Steve Macfarlane interviews Ngozi Onwurah about WELCOME II THE TERRORDOME, the first British film by a Black woman, back in theaters after 30 years:
filmmaker.substack.com/p/in-the-hou...
In the Hour of Chaos: Ngozi Onwurah on “Welcome II the Terrordome”
The first British feature directed by a Black woman is back in theaters after 30 years.
filmmaker.substack.com
August 2, 2026 at 4:41 PM
"This was my way of saying 'fuck it.'"
Steve Macfarlane interviews Ngozi Onwurah about WELCOME II THE TERRORDOME, the first British film by a Black woman, back in theaters after 30 years:
filmmaker.substack.com/p/in-the-hou...
Steve Macfarlane interviews Ngozi Onwurah about WELCOME II THE TERRORDOME, the first British film by a Black woman, back in theaters after 30 years:
filmmaker.substack.com/p/in-the-hou...
Reposted by Filmmaker Magazine
had fun writing about pop personas, gregg araki, and charli xcx for @filmmakermagazine.com this week! sign up for new essays from me each Friday, direct to your inbox:
filmmaker.substack.com/p/faceoff-gr...
filmmaker.substack.com/p/faceoff-gr...
August 1, 2026 at 12:15 PM
had fun writing about pop personas, gregg araki, and charli xcx for @filmmakermagazine.com this week! sign up for new essays from me each Friday, direct to your inbox:
filmmaker.substack.com/p/faceoff-gr...
filmmaker.substack.com/p/faceoff-gr...
"Persona is a very deliberate instrument for Charli, who is curious about the conditions that might destabilize it."
Chloe Lizotte ( @celizotte.bsky.social ) on expectation and dissonance in Gregg Araki's I WANT YOUR SEX and Charli XCX's MUSIC, FASHION, FILM:
filmmaker.substack.com/p/faceoff-gr...
Chloe Lizotte ( @celizotte.bsky.social ) on expectation and dissonance in Gregg Araki's I WANT YOUR SEX and Charli XCX's MUSIC, FASHION, FILM:
filmmaker.substack.com/p/faceoff-gr...
Face/Off: Gregg Araki and Charli XCX
An underground filmmaker and an international pop star play against type.
filmmaker.substack.com
July 31, 2026 at 7:25 PM
"Persona is a very deliberate instrument for Charli, who is curious about the conditions that might destabilize it."
Chloe Lizotte ( @celizotte.bsky.social ) on expectation and dissonance in Gregg Araki's I WANT YOUR SEX and Charli XCX's MUSIC, FASHION, FILM:
filmmaker.substack.com/p/faceoff-gr...
Chloe Lizotte ( @celizotte.bsky.social ) on expectation and dissonance in Gregg Araki's I WANT YOUR SEX and Charli XCX's MUSIC, FASHION, FILM:
filmmaker.substack.com/p/faceoff-gr...
"With Jennifer Lame in the editing room, Christopher Nolan has transformed the abstract into the impressionistic."
Corey Atad ( @coreyatad.com ) on what Jennifer Lame's editing brings to Christopher Nolan's THE ODYSSEY:
filmmaker.substack.com/p/weaving-th...
Corey Atad ( @coreyatad.com ) on what Jennifer Lame's editing brings to Christopher Nolan's THE ODYSSEY:
filmmaker.substack.com/p/weaving-th...
Weaving “The Odyssey”
Editor Jennifer Lame’s third collaboration with Christopher Nolan is an epic of emotional immediacy.
filmmaker.substack.com
July 31, 2026 at 12:23 PM
"With Jennifer Lame in the editing room, Christopher Nolan has transformed the abstract into the impressionistic."
Corey Atad ( @coreyatad.com ) on what Jennifer Lame's editing brings to Christopher Nolan's THE ODYSSEY:
filmmaker.substack.com/p/weaving-th...
Corey Atad ( @coreyatad.com ) on what Jennifer Lame's editing brings to Christopher Nolan's THE ODYSSEY:
filmmaker.substack.com/p/weaving-th...
"I don't mind that people can see fingerprints on the clay or hot glue every now and then."
In the latest excerpt from our summer issue, Kambole Campbell ( @kambole.bsky.social ) speaks with Emily Ann Hoffman about her delightfully bizarre animations.
filmmaker.substack.com/p/disarming-...
In the latest excerpt from our summer issue, Kambole Campbell ( @kambole.bsky.social ) speaks with Emily Ann Hoffman about her delightfully bizarre animations.
filmmaker.substack.com/p/disarming-...
Disarming the Audience
Emily Ann Hoffman on the power of “human-crafted” animation.
filmmaker.substack.com
July 30, 2026 at 5:53 PM
"I don't mind that people can see fingerprints on the clay or hot glue every now and then."
In the latest excerpt from our summer issue, Kambole Campbell ( @kambole.bsky.social ) speaks with Emily Ann Hoffman about her delightfully bizarre animations.
filmmaker.substack.com/p/disarming-...
In the latest excerpt from our summer issue, Kambole Campbell ( @kambole.bsky.social ) speaks with Emily Ann Hoffman about her delightfully bizarre animations.
filmmaker.substack.com/p/disarming-...
"The festival has walked an improbable path of occupation, compromise, and survival."
Sonya Vseliubska shares standouts from the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, including BLACK MONEY FOR WHITE NIGHTS & Swann Arlaud in A MAN OF HIS TIME:
filmmaker.substack.com/p/spa-eclect...
Sonya Vseliubska shares standouts from the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, including BLACK MONEY FOR WHITE NIGHTS & Swann Arlaud in A MAN OF HIS TIME:
filmmaker.substack.com/p/spa-eclect...
Spa Eclectics: At Karlovy Vary
The festival’s 60th edition and 80th anniversary acknowledges its inheritance on its own terms.
filmmaker.substack.com
July 30, 2026 at 1:44 PM
"The festival has walked an improbable path of occupation, compromise, and survival."
Sonya Vseliubska shares standouts from the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, including BLACK MONEY FOR WHITE NIGHTS & Swann Arlaud in A MAN OF HIS TIME:
filmmaker.substack.com/p/spa-eclect...
Sonya Vseliubska shares standouts from the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, including BLACK MONEY FOR WHITE NIGHTS & Swann Arlaud in A MAN OF HIS TIME:
filmmaker.substack.com/p/spa-eclect...
Reposted by Filmmaker Magazine
"A film effectively unstuck in time, in which all events occur simultaneously, gaining shape in a storytelling style akin to recollected memory."
for @filmmakermagazine.com, i wrote about Christopher Nolan's editing style and his collaboration with editor Jennifer Lame
for @filmmakermagazine.com, i wrote about Christopher Nolan's editing style and his collaboration with editor Jennifer Lame
Weaving “The Odyssey”
Editor Jennifer Lame’s third collaboration with Christopher Nolan is an epic of emotional immediacy.
filmmaker.substack.com
July 28, 2026 at 6:08 PM
"A film effectively unstuck in time, in which all events occur simultaneously, gaining shape in a storytelling style akin to recollected memory."
for @filmmakermagazine.com, i wrote about Christopher Nolan's editing style and his collaboration with editor Jennifer Lame
for @filmmakermagazine.com, i wrote about Christopher Nolan's editing style and his collaboration with editor Jennifer Lame