Berlinale 2015: Isabel Coixet’s Nobody Wants the Night

The 65th Berlinale opening film is a female-led, stressful adventure movie, set around a snowy, ill-fated journey loosely based on the memoirs of Josephine Peary, wife to Robert Peary, who aggressively, inaccurately claimed to be the first man to reach the North Pole in 1909. Director Isabel Coixet’s Nadie Quiere La Noche/Nobody Wants the Night is a tribute to Josephine’s singleminded journey through godforsaken northern hinterlands to be as close as possible to her husband as he (thinks he) achieves his incredible goal.

Selma Editor Spencer Averick on the Film’s Toughest Scenes to Cut

Troopers storm into a café. They're looking for the old man, his daughter and his grandson that they'd been chasing after breaking up a night march in Selma. The old man, Cager Lee (played by the phenomenal Henry Sanders), his daughter Viola (Charity Jordan) and his grandson Jimmie Lee Jackson (Keith Stanfield) are trying to hide their faces behind menus at a table in the back. The troopers spot them and throw the 82-year old Cager Lee to the ground,

American Sniper‘s Ben Reed on Researching his Role

American Sniper is based on the book by the late Chris Kyle, the most lethal sniper in American military history, serving four tours of duty in Iraq. The film has sparked heated debate, Twitter-feuds, and thoughtful analysis from some of the industry's best film critics, from Slate's Dana Stevens to the New Yorker's David Denby, arguing for the film's artistic merits as well as the nuances in its message,

A Q&A With Writer, Director & Actress Desiree Akhavan, New Girls Cast Member

Since her feature film debut, Appropriate Behavior, premiered at Sundance in 2014, Desiree Akhavan — the film's 30-year-old writer, director, and star — has been garnering buzz as the "Next Lena Dunham." It's a click-bait headline that grabs eyeballs, for sure, but it's also a lazy person's way of saying that she's an intelligent, funny, moral and sexual boundary-pushing, talented filmmaker who also happens to be a young woman who writes, directs and stars in her own stuff.

Making History: Selma Casting Director Aisha Coley

By now we all know that actor David Oyelowo didn’t get nominated for his utterly captivating performance as Martin Luther King Jr. in Ava DuVernay’s Selma. Nor did DuVernay get the nod for director. The film, however, was nominated for Best Picture, and there’s zero doubt that Oyelowo and DuVernay could and likely should have been nominated. Yet neither one of them, nor any of the members of the cast or crew, worked on this film for the awards.

Slamdance 2015: Gabrielle Demeestere on Adapting James Franco’s Yosemite

Last night Slamdance Film Festival’s closing night selection was Yosemite, adapted and directed by Gabrielle Demeestere from three of James Franco’s short stories, earning her a female directing grant from the festival for her fantastic first effort. Yosemite is structured as a triptych, following the thread of three 5th graders, Chris, Joe and Ted, who all live in Palo Alto, a picturesque Californian suburb that Demeestere infuses with dread. In the opening section,

Project Almanac Shoots Found Footage With Cinematographer Matthew Lloyd

As director Dean Israelite spun Matthew Lloyd a tale about kids creating a time machine, showing him detailed storyboard panels with picture of teens with a secret tools that looks liked a dark graphic novel, Lloyd made a decision. He would be the cinematographer for the Paramount feature Project Almanac.

The next challenge was figure out how to make the film’s found footage style work. The duo decided to split the difference,

Julianne Moore, Co-Director Wash Westmoreland & Cast Discuss Still Alice

In Still Alice, Julianne Moore plays a linguistics professor who is shockingly diagnosed with Early Onset Alzheimer's disease. With her family (husband Alec Baldwin and grown children Kristen Stewart, Kate Bosworth and Hunter Parrish) by her side, she tries to deal with the debilitating and horrifying disease — saying at one point that she even wished she had cancer instead. Based on the novel by Lisa Genova, Alice has won critical praise,

Sundance 2015: The Horizon Award Reception for 20-year-old Verónica Ortiz-Calderón

Park City, Utah – Twenty-year-old Syracuse University Student Verónica Ortiz-Calderón was awarded the inaugural Horizon Award last night for her short film Y Ya No Te Gustas (And You Don’t Like Yourself Anymore), at a reception held at Sundance House.

Ortiz-Calderón’s thoughtful, arresting debut, which was selected from more than 400 submissions from up-and-coming female filmmakers, premiered to a room full of film industry heavyweights. Accepting the award, and a $10,000 scholarship check from Sharon Waxman,

Sundance 2015: Talking to Cassian Elwes, Co-Producer of Inaugural Horizon Awards

The Sundance Film Festival has made a few recent announcements that speak to a fresh commitment to help spread some of the festival’s opportunities around. The first was a new tool to help lesser-known filmmakers get their work seen by using a new service, Quiver Digital. As reported by Mashable, Quiver Digital is a distribution dashboard that allows users to push their films to Amazon, Netflix, iTunes, Google Play and Sony Entertainment Network,

Legendary Casting Director Bonnie Timmerman On Blackhat & More

To say that Casting Director Bonnie Timmermann’s influence on the movie business over the last 40 years has been enormous is no understatement. George Clooney, Alec Baldwin, Ben Stiller, Sandra Bullock, Reese Witherspoon, Diane Lane, Jennifer Connelly, Jessica Alba, Jim Carrey, and Halle Berry are just a few of the now superstar actors discovered by Timmermann as they were starting their careers. Responsible for casting the likes of Meryl Streep, Glenn Close and Christopher Walken in early theater roles in the 1970s at NYC’s Phoenix Repertory Company,

7 Great Filmmakers On Their Craft

This week we’ve been sharing Movies OnDemand’s video interviews with some of this year’s Oscar nominees on their craft. In parts I, II and III, we've heard what artists such as Alejandro G. Iñárritu, J.K. Simmons, Felicity Jones, Keira Knightley, Ethan Hawke, Edward Norton, and Bennett Miller have had to say about their craft.

It’s the case every single year, however, that films and filmmakers get left off the nominee list that could have easily been selected.

Oscar Nominees Discuss Their Preparation – Part III

We’ve heard from nominees like directors Alejandro G. Iñárritu and Bennett Miller and actors Felicity Jones and J.K. Simmons, all discussing their preparation for tackling their subjects. Movies OnDemand put together these fantastic (and very brief) video interviews not just with the nominees, but with many of the serious contenders this year, including director Jon Stewart (Rosewater), composer Atticus Ross (Gone Girl) and actress Katherine Waterson (Inherent Vice).

Oscar Nominees Discuss Their Preparation – Part II

Last week we shared videos of the insights of but a few of the incredibly talented ‘The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ acting nominees, created by Movies OnDemand. Today we flip to those behind the camera. 2015 Oscar nominated directors Bennett Miller, Foxcatcher, and Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Birdman, discuss their their approach on bringing their vision to the screen.

Miller and Iñárritu couldn’t have delivered two more disparate films than Foxcatcher and Birdman,

Short Stuff: Animation and Live Action Oscar Nominees

One of the delicious joys of Oscar season — beyond dissecting the nominations and speculating on who will win, of course — is the opportunity to catch up on the short form nominees all in one sitting. This year marks the tenth anniversary that the shorts in each category — animation, live action, and documentary — will each be grouped together and have their own theatrical release courtesy of ShortsHD.

There’s nothing like watching the films together to get a sense of perspective and better understand the filmmakers’

Oscar Nominees Discuss Their Preparation

With the 2015 awards season in full swing, yesterday was a big day for creators and makers, both in front of and behind the camera. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced its nominees for the 2015 Oscars – to be held on February 22nd.

It has been an amazing year in film, with some of the truly finest cinematic offerings ever. ‘Movies OnDemand’ sat down with a number of this year’s nominees to discuss how they got ready for their roles,

Playing Politics With Red Army Documentary Director Gabe Polsky

On the surface, Gabe Polsky’s superb new documentary is about the legendary Red Army hockey team, one of the most dominant collection of athletes ever assembled — in any sport. At the height of the Cold War, in the late 1970s through the late 1980s, the team swept away opponents with ease. They won eight world championships and three Olympic gold medals, in 1976, 1984, and 1988. Only the 1980 “Miracle on Ice” U.S. team denied them a complete sweep.

Novel Approach: 5 Films Based on Books Premiering at Sundance

Who will break out big at Sundance this year? Which film, which director, which star will get the major viral boost from word of mouth or jury prize?

The 2014 iteration of the Park City, Utah, festival opens on January 22. As usual, there is an abundance of riches to consider beyond the big screen. There are the excellent panel discussions, for instance, which this year features a first-ever appearance by director George Lucas.

A Q&A with James Dever, Military Advisor on American Sniper

James Dever was just following orders. In 1986, Clint Eastwood arrived at Camp Pendleton, the Southern California Marine Corps base, to direct, and star in, Heartbreak Ridge. Dever, a gunnery sergeant with more than 13 years in the Corps under his belt at the time, was assigned by his Colonel to work with Eastwood — whose character, Thomas Highway, is also a gunnery sergeant.

The experience proved intoxicating. “I said to myself,

Women on the Big Screen: Eight Movies to Watch for in 2015 (Including Tina & Amy)

So we bid adieu to Tina Fey and Amy Poehler as perhaps the most charming, witty Golden Globe hosts of all time. The longtime friends and charismatic collaborators finished their three-year run last at last night’s 72nd annual Golden Globes ceremony just as they began it: sharp, topical, irreverent, and so comfortable together on stage they make everyone else comfortable (even those at the butt of their jokes). It was a great run,