Q&A: Matt Sobel on the Delicate Balance of ‘Take Me to the River’

Note: This interview was first published during HIFF 2015. TAKE ME TO THE RIVER is now playing in select theaters. Find tickets. Accompanying his parents to a Nebraskan family reunion couldn’t be more uncomfortable for Ryder (Logan Miller), a gay Californian teenager. For his mother’s sake he agrees to act “normal,” but nonetheless attracts some unwanted attention […]

Q&A: Joshua Seftel on Embracing the Unexpected in ‘The Many Sad Fates of Mr. Toledano’

With the help of DNA tests, psychics, and prosthetic makeup, renowned photographer Phil Toledano imagines all of the possible ways his life will end. Catch Joshua Seftel’s THE MANY SAD FATES OF MR. TOLEDANO in the CRAFTED shorts program, screening alongside two other films about auteurs: CLAUDE LANZMANN: SPECTRES OF THE SHOAH and IT’S ME […]

Q&A: Trey Edward Shults on the Familial Bonds of ‘Krisha’

Krisha is doing fine. Krisha is doing much better. She will face her family for Thanksgiving because she is sober and she is ready. After years of absence from her family, she returns to reconnect with her son, cook dinner, and prove to her family that she has changed for the better. Completely panicked and […]

Q&A: Marc Levin on Finding Common Ground in ‘Class Divide’

Director Marc Levin (SCHMATTA: RAGS TO RICHES TO RAGS, HIFF ’09, and HARD TIMES: LOST ON LONG ISLAND, Audience Award, HIFF ’11) presents CLASS DIVIDE, a look into the modern effects of gentrification in West Chelsea, New York, as seen through the eyes of students from both sides of the street—one avenue and worlds apart. […]

Q&A: Adam Benzine on the Making of ‘Claude Lanzmann: Spectres of the Shoah’

Claude Lanzmann’s 1985 documentary SHOAH is considered by many to be the most important film ever made about the Holocaust. A behind-the-scenes look at the making of this masterpiece, director Adam Benzine captures Lanzmann’s tireless efforts to preserve the survivors’ stories in CLAUDE LANZMANN: SPECTRES OF THE SHOAH.   CLAUDE LANZMANN: SPECTRES OF THE SHOAH […]