CONTENTS FILMMAKER WINTER 2008 VOLUME 16 NUMBER 2
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70 PLAYING THE PERCENTAGES
Filmmakers from the 2008 Sundance Film Festival reveal what they’d want 10% more of.
34 LET’S GO
TO THE VIDEOTAPE Author Jonathan Safran Foer sits down with Michel Gondry to talk about his ode to amateur artmaking, Be Kind Rewind.
40 GIANT AMBITION
With a commanding, possessed performance by Daniel Day-Lewis and a subject that lies at the root of our modern nation, Paul Thomas Anderson’s There Will Be Blood is a transfixing journey into the American character. By James Ponsoldt
G O R D O N
SU E
I N DA
: M E L
BY
P H OTO
46 FORGIVE US
OUR TRESPASSES Having recently completed his “Death Trilogy,” Gus Van Sant mixes film noir, Fellini and Portland skate culture to adapt Blake Nelson’s young-adult novel, Paranod Park. By Scott Macaulay
50 ONCE UPON A TIME
IN ROMANIA Romanian director Cristian Mungiu discusses his award-winning tale about illegal abortion in the final days of the Ceausescu regime, 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days. By Damon Smith
56 WRONG TURN
In his latest revealing documentary, Taxi To The Dark Side, Alex Gibney examines the Bush administration’s questionable tactics in the fight against terrorism. By Scott Macaulay
60 THIS PART OF THE COUNTRY
James Ponsoldt chats with David Gordon Green about leaving his Southern roots for the chilly climate of his latest film, Snow Angels.
64 BITE ON THIS
Mitchell Lichtenstein’s directorial debut, Teeth, mixes satire, humor and horror to create a guilty pleasure that’s sure to scare the hell out of most men who see it. By Lisa Y. Garibay
66 ’TILL DEATH
After making two celebrated films set in contemporary Memphis, Ira Sachs finds meaning in the period genre film Married Life. By Peter Bowen
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FILMMAKER WINTER 2008