“Some Have Called This a Documentary”: How ‘Melania’ Bends Documentary to Serve the Rich and Powerful How Melania serves its titular subject, its filmmakers, and its financier by invoking documentary’s authenticity but not its accountability

I gather this type of content is frowned upon on BlueSky but I did as I was asked and wrote at some considerable length about MELANIA www.documentary.org/feature/some...

Still not sure what to do here and not do on Twitter, but maybe there are Ashford & Simpson enthusiasts here. The youth don’t seem to know

IFFR, briefly, then "Hamnet," slightly longer *waves hi from the Netherlands*

IFFR thoughts next week, but for now I unleashed a HAMNET review I’ve had lying around for a while russiandressing.substack.com/p/iffr-brief...

There'll be some changes made. A few Sundance things for now.

Inevitably, I've redirected my previously all-food Substack to more of a stopgap function, at least for now. Some Sundance thoughts: russiandressing.substack.com/p/therell-be...

Let me try to do some weird googling because I take your point. The pure live-action stuff looks legitimately horrible, no? All 18 shots or whatever.

Obrigado

Not quite a non-technical audience, didn’t know the word “judder” before but the 24 fps almost registered as step-printed after extended HFR. First time I kind of was like “you’re making your case” with the latter, but it’s so not good for unmediated live action!

Glowing, thank you thank you.

Hiiii

Thanks Noel. You’re too kind but I’ll take it.

Thanks Corey!

Thanks! We tried.

Thanks, and thanks for contributing!

Thank you!

Thanks so much Brian.

Thanks Stephen!

My Best Work as (Mostly) an Editor When I realized I’d be laid off (via: restructuring) from the publication I’ve worked at for 11+ years, I went back through the print archives to round up work I was proud of as an interviewer and…

I did a little post here to round up some of my best work as an editor (and, sure, some of my interviews). It's been fun! filmmakermagazine.com/132962-vadim...

Some news: I'm being laid off! After 11+ years and 48 issues, Friday will be my last day. I'm 100% looking for work and definitely not married to being in film. I have many transferable corporate/organizational skills. Email is first dot last at gmail

Ken Jacobs (1933-2025) Ken Jacobs wasn’t just a single (albeit huge) formative force in experimental film, but a river through which an array of streams flowed to their own artistic destinations. For New Yorkers…

I was asked to write about Ken Jacobs, so I did filmmakermagazine.com/132155-obitu...

Akiva Schaffer explains how he got Paramount to greenlight THE NAKED GUN, via filmmakermagazine.com/131443-inter...

An exchange of honesty, via filmmakermagazine.com/131427-inter...

My Karlovy Vary 2025 report. Discussed: four strong new first features, John Garfield, career (un)sustainability, a French filmmaker who will absolutely be in Cannes comp in the next ten years, Cyril Connolly. filmmakermagazine.com/131325-karlo...

Thanks! I try to keep it moving in a procedural direction.

Unlocked from the new issue: my 20 minutes, no more or less, with Wes Anderson. Topics: why VistaVision didn’t work out, why being a producer means getting the cast and making the schedule himself, how much time it takes to make those newspapers. filmmakermagazine.com/130995-inter...

More Cannes, on PHOENICIAN SCHEME and NOUVELLE VAGUE filmmakermagazine.com/130732-canne...

Cannes coverage begins with SOUND OF FALLING and TWO PROSECUTORS filmmakermagazine.com/130697-canne...

My Visions du Réel 2025 report is live; below is a chunk of my write-up on the "raw vegan food influencer" documentary SOLDIERS OF LIGHT, but there's a lot more there, not all so bleak. (Also: hi!) filmmakermagazine.com/130494-visio...

中村一義 - 金字塔 Explore songs, recommendations, and other album details for 金字塔 by 中村一義. Compare different versions and buy them all on Discogs.

@noelmu.bsky.social I came back on here to specifically recommend two albums I’m almost dead positive are for you: Slippers, DO YOU LIKE SLIPPERS? from this year, and this 1997 Japanese album by Kazuyoshi Nakamura www.discogs.com/master/14817...

@scotttobias.bsky.social @noelmu.bsky.social Fellas! Hopping on to say delighted you’re here and let’s be sure to meet.

As you can tell, I’m not checking in here a lot. (But they reunited in Glasgow in January and I semi-seriously thought about going.)