Before the recently-concluded SXSW's annual music-driven bacchanal fades into memory, Indiewire's latest curated selections for Hulu's Documentaries page turns the spotlight on musicians and their dreams of stardom. Watch these and other docs now for free!An appropriate place to start is Nathan Christ's Austin-set "Echotone," an exploration of the lives of working young musicians in the a city known for its live entertainment.Edward Payson's "Unsigned" recounts a year in the lives of three rock bands who haven't made it… yet.The band at the center of Nina Gilden Seavey's "The Ballad of Bering Strait" move from their native Russia to the heart of country music, Nashville, to make their dreams come true.Victor Mignatti's "This Time" offers a candid look at determination against all odds for six performers who feel their shot at stardom is just around the corner. Finally, Mark Meatto's "How...
- 3/18/2014
- by Basil Tsiokos
- Indiewire
With all eyes on Sochi for the Olympic Games for most of this month, Indiewire's latest curated selections for Hulu's Documentaries page explores host country Russia. Watch these and other docs now for free!Modern-day politics, ideology, and the cult of personality around Russia's president is the focus of Lise Birk Pederson's bracing "Putin's Kiss."Cyril Tuschi's "Khodorkovsky" reveals how the country's former richest citizen became a political prisoner after challenging President Putin.Post-Soviet prisoners are also the subject of Maria Yatskova-Ibrahimova's "Miss Gulag," focused on a Siberian prison camp beauty pageant.A pair of films offer cross-cultural exchanges through music: Nina Gilden Seavey's "The Ballad of Bering Strait" follows a Russian country band as it adjusts to life in rural Tennessee, while Petter Ringbom's "The Russian Winter" chronicles former Fugees musician John Forté's re-emergence from prison to recording an album in...
- 2/14/2014
- by Basil Tsiokos
- Indiewire
Academy Governor Michael Moore and the Academy's new rules for docs were challenged by Nina Seavey, Director of the Documentary Center at George Washington University, on NPR's Talk of the Nation program today. Seavey, also a documentary filmmaker and founding director of Silverdocs, questioned the inclusivity of the new rules and their impact on Ida's Oscar-qualifying program DocuWeeks, which has qualified over 186 films in the documentary short and feature categories.
The conversation continues at Ida's Doc U this Monday at the Cinefamily in Los Angeles.
The conversation continues at Ida's Doc U this Monday at the Cinefamily in Los Angeles.
- 2/17/2012
- by IDA Editorial Staff
- International Documentary Association
"It’s one thing to make a film; it’s another thing for a film to matter.”- Nina Seavey, Director of the Documentary Center at George Washington University
Thanks to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Doc U made its first stop on the road in our nation’s capitol last Monday, December 5 at West End Cinema. Answering the question Can Your Doc Really Change the World?, this thorough panel included representatives from every aspect of inspirational storytelling. If anyone left unsure of some great examples of change-making campaigns from the ...
Thanks to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Doc U made its first stop on the road in our nation’s capitol last Monday, December 5 at West End Cinema. Answering the question Can Your Doc Really Change the World?, this thorough panel included representatives from every aspect of inspirational storytelling. If anyone left unsure of some great examples of change-making campaigns from the ...
- 12/12/2011
- by IDA Editorial Staff
- International Documentary Association
There's a lot of bull in "The Matador," a documentary portrait of David Fandila, Spain's 24-year-old superstar bullfighter known to his legions of worshipful fans as El Fandi.
He has the good looks of a rock star, a foxy blond girlfriend he seldom sees, a mother who fawns over him - and the head of a bull hanging in his gaudy living room. (So much for good taste.)
There are many people who consider bullfighting antiquated and barbaric. Directors Stephen Higgins and Nina Gilden Seavey, to their credit, give...
He has the good looks of a rock star, a foxy blond girlfriend he seldom sees, a mother who fawns over him - and the head of a bull hanging in his gaudy living room. (So much for good taste.)
There are many people who consider bullfighting antiquated and barbaric. Directors Stephen Higgins and Nina Gilden Seavey, to their credit, give...
- 10/31/2008
- by By V.A. MUSETTO
- NYPost.com
By Neil Pedley
Halloween week offsets some of the recent nice with a little bit of nasty that duly chucks the blood around. Kevin Smith's also back, along with a culture clash rom-com and an eclectic mix of docs.
"Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father"
As anyone who's seen this documentary as it's collected audience awards on the festival circuit can attest, the less one knows, the better -- but if we must, composer and filmmaker Kurt Kuenne channels his grief over the murder of his best friend Andrew Bagby into a cinematic celebration of Bagby's life so that his son might have something of the father he will never know. Inviting loved ones to share memories and experiences, Kuenne assembles this memorial to his friend's memory while Andrew's parents enter into a bitter custody dispute with their son's murderer, who's out on bail in...
Halloween week offsets some of the recent nice with a little bit of nasty that duly chucks the blood around. Kevin Smith's also back, along with a culture clash rom-com and an eclectic mix of docs.
"Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father"
As anyone who's seen this documentary as it's collected audience awards on the festival circuit can attest, the less one knows, the better -- but if we must, composer and filmmaker Kurt Kuenne channels his grief over the murder of his best friend Andrew Bagby into a cinematic celebration of Bagby's life so that his son might have something of the father he will never know. Inviting loved ones to share memories and experiences, Kuenne assembles this memorial to his friend's memory while Andrew's parents enter into a bitter custody dispute with their son's murderer, who's out on bail in...
- 10/27/2008
- by Neil Pedley
- ifc.com
NEW YORK -- City Lights Pictures has nabbed North American rights to the bullfighting documentary "The Matador" on the heels of its 2008 South by Southwest Film Festival premiere.
Director Nina Gilden Seavey tracked David Fandila for three years in his quest to become the world's top matador. The feature captures Fandila in fights across Spain and Latin America.
City Lights plans a fall theatrical release, followed by a DVD release on City Lights Home Entertainment.
Steven Beer of Greenberg Traurig brokered the deal on behalf of the producers with City Lights' Mark Ragone and Marcus Lansdell.
Director Nina Gilden Seavey tracked David Fandila for three years in his quest to become the world's top matador. The feature captures Fandila in fights across Spain and Latin America.
City Lights plans a fall theatrical release, followed by a DVD release on City Lights Home Entertainment.
Steven Beer of Greenberg Traurig brokered the deal on behalf of the producers with City Lights' Mark Ragone and Marcus Lansdell.
- 4/18/2008
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Opens Friday, Feb. 21
With a Grammy nomination for best country instrumental performance, their first album just released on Universal South, fresh off an appearance on "60 Minutes" and several high-profile live performances in New York and Los Angeles, it's safe to say the wonderful Russian band Bering Strait has finally arrived. They even have their own movie.
Were the subjects not such an irresistible combination of wildly talented musicians who are young, attractive, multilingual and not spoiled by success, one could dismiss Nina Gilden Seavey's documentary "The Ballad of Bering Strait" (showing locally via digital projection at Laemmle's Sunset 5 in Los Angeles) as well-timed boosterism with no depth or critical aspects. Instead, it's a coming-out party of a project that is never less than engaging.
The one unconditional critique of the movie is there is not enough of the band playing their music. Those not familiar with Bering Strait's blend of bluegrass, rock and country, with songs performed in English, are in for a treat. But other than loosely chronicling the journey to fame of the group -- all seven are natives of Obninsk, Russia -- there isn't much substance to the biographical portraits.
Still, Seavey lets her subjects talk, and it's hard not to fall in love with the likes of lead vocalist and acoustic guitarist Natasha Borzilova, who starts the movie with Long Dark hair and has been transformed by the end into a short-haired country blonde. Her singing voice and performance skills are amazing, but the banjo and lead guitar playing of Ilya Toshinsky are equally of the highest order.
Impressive for their seriousness, musical skills and persevering attitudes are red-haired keyboard player and backup vocalist Lydia Salnikova and drummer Alexander Arzamastsev. Although all seven members are anxious to have success, with some having played together since childhood, the love of the music is clearly what inspires them -- and it's a great gift they have to give. Still, it would have been OK to show them eating junk food and watching dumb TV shows or more of how they survived for years in the United States waiting to get their shot.
Straightforward and fast-paced, the film does recount the group's initial attempts to record and perform in America that were derailed by the changing fortunes of record executive Tim DuBois. Meanwhile, their manager, Mike Kinnamon, was a major help during the years it took to finally record an album and play the Grand Ole Opry. The movie concludes soon after their first big concert, but hopefully Bering Strait will be around for a long time.
THE BALLAD OF BERING STRAIT
Emerging Pictures
Credits:
Director-producer: Nina Gilden Seavey
Director of photography: Erich Roland
Editor: Jeff Consiglio
Cast:
Natasha Borzilova, Ilya Toshinsky, Lydia Salnikova, Alexander Arzamastsev, Alexander "Sasha" Ostrovsky, Sergei Passov, Sergei "Spooky" Olkhovsky, Andrei Misikhin
Running time -- 98 minutes
No MPAA rating...
With a Grammy nomination for best country instrumental performance, their first album just released on Universal South, fresh off an appearance on "60 Minutes" and several high-profile live performances in New York and Los Angeles, it's safe to say the wonderful Russian band Bering Strait has finally arrived. They even have their own movie.
Were the subjects not such an irresistible combination of wildly talented musicians who are young, attractive, multilingual and not spoiled by success, one could dismiss Nina Gilden Seavey's documentary "The Ballad of Bering Strait" (showing locally via digital projection at Laemmle's Sunset 5 in Los Angeles) as well-timed boosterism with no depth or critical aspects. Instead, it's a coming-out party of a project that is never less than engaging.
The one unconditional critique of the movie is there is not enough of the band playing their music. Those not familiar with Bering Strait's blend of bluegrass, rock and country, with songs performed in English, are in for a treat. But other than loosely chronicling the journey to fame of the group -- all seven are natives of Obninsk, Russia -- there isn't much substance to the biographical portraits.
Still, Seavey lets her subjects talk, and it's hard not to fall in love with the likes of lead vocalist and acoustic guitarist Natasha Borzilova, who starts the movie with Long Dark hair and has been transformed by the end into a short-haired country blonde. Her singing voice and performance skills are amazing, but the banjo and lead guitar playing of Ilya Toshinsky are equally of the highest order.
Impressive for their seriousness, musical skills and persevering attitudes are red-haired keyboard player and backup vocalist Lydia Salnikova and drummer Alexander Arzamastsev. Although all seven members are anxious to have success, with some having played together since childhood, the love of the music is clearly what inspires them -- and it's a great gift they have to give. Still, it would have been OK to show them eating junk food and watching dumb TV shows or more of how they survived for years in the United States waiting to get their shot.
Straightforward and fast-paced, the film does recount the group's initial attempts to record and perform in America that were derailed by the changing fortunes of record executive Tim DuBois. Meanwhile, their manager, Mike Kinnamon, was a major help during the years it took to finally record an album and play the Grand Ole Opry. The movie concludes soon after their first big concert, but hopefully Bering Strait will be around for a long time.
THE BALLAD OF BERING STRAIT
Emerging Pictures
Credits:
Director-producer: Nina Gilden Seavey
Director of photography: Erich Roland
Editor: Jeff Consiglio
Cast:
Natasha Borzilova, Ilya Toshinsky, Lydia Salnikova, Alexander Arzamastsev, Alexander "Sasha" Ostrovsky, Sergei Passov, Sergei "Spooky" Olkhovsky, Andrei Misikhin
Running time -- 98 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 2/21/2003
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.