Capitalism: A Love Story, Michael Moore's latest, ka-chinged into the number two spot on the top ten grossers of 2009, zeroing in on the $5 million mark in just its second week of release. Capitalism is already among the top 20 grossing docs of all-time, joining most of the Moore canon-Fahrenheit 911, Sicko and Bowling for Columbine.
R. J. Cutler's The September Issue is flirting with $3 million after over a month in the theaters, while other titles like Food, Inc. and Every Little Step continue to fare well amid their lengthy runs. Also showing promise is Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg, Aviva Kempner's first feature doc since The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg, which itself was one of the better performing docs of 2000.
Here is the latest list of the top-ten grossing docs of 2009:
1) Earth $32,011,576
2) Capitalism: A Love Story $ 4,849,067
3) Food, Inc. $ 4,361,985
4) The September Issue $ 2,908,192
5) Waltz with Bashir $ 2,283,849
6) Valentino: The Last Emperor: $ 1,755,134
7) Every Little Step $ 1,724,351
8) It Might Get Loud $ 1,234,300
9) Tyson $ 887,918
10) Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg $ 815,273
Source: www.boxofficemojo.com (as of October 5, 2009)
THE DOC SHOT Q AND A: Kristopher Belman, Director, 'More Than a Game'
The DOC SHOT Q&A is an exclusive online feature by Documentary
magazine associate editor Tamara Krinsky. Through this mix of questions
(some serious, some sassy), each DOC SHOT provides a glimpse into the work and
lives of those creating and supporting nonfiction film.
YOUR FILM
Brief description of your film.
More Than A Game is about five boys from the inner city who use the sport of basketball to form a family, become men and accomplish their dreams--all under the guidance of their coach/father figure.
I directed and produced the film.
How did you find your subject or become involved in the film?
I was born and raised in Akron, Ohio. While attending Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, I signed up for an “Introduction to Documentary” class. I decided I wanted to shoot my class project in my hometown and had read about a group of boys who played together for several years before entering high school. I found this friendship to be unique, and decided it would be a good basis for my ten-minute class film. After spending a few practices with the team, I felt that the relationships that the boys was something very inspiring, and that the scope of the project was far beyond ten minutes. I spent the next seven and a half years with the boys, making sure their story was told the right way.
Was there a moment in this film that went a different way than you expected?
The best player on the team I was chronicling was suspended for the rest of his high school career. It was something that caught the entire team by surprise, and provided a large moment of drama as the team had to win without him. It was a prime example of how nonfiction can usually be more interesting than the scripted world.
If you had had an extra $10,000 to spend on your film, what would you have used it for?
I would use it to do something nice for my crew—they really went above and beyond for years as we worked to finish this film. I can honestly say that the hard work they put in inspired me when I went through struggles. Together we were able to produce something really special. I’m not sure what—maybe take a group trip to Hawaii? The In-and-Out truck at the very least…
YOUR WORK
What's the first film you remember seeing as a child?
Back to the Future. After watching that, all I wanted was a DeLorean.
Tell us about a film that affected your profoundly or changed/inspired the way you do your own work.
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off—John Hughes was so incredible at creating characters, and Ferris was my idol as a kid. The serendipitous way in which he approached life was something I wanted to do, and I really try to approach filmmaking with that kind of attitude. It’s such an inherently stressful job, I think every once in a while you have to ask yourself “What Would Ferris Do?”
What would surprise people the most about your job or the way you execute it?
I think the world of nonfiction is extremely rewarding on a personal level. Spending seven years working with the subjects of my film, I really felt like I became a part of their worlds. That kind of experience really allows you to grow as a person, and that was one of the most incredible aspects of making this film.
When you are feeling creatively stumped or burnt out, what do you do to get the creativity flowing again?
A good run always clears the mind!
Exclusive photo of Kristopher Belman at a screening of More Than a Game hosted by Nike
YOUR LIFE
Daily essential reads (online or off)?
Akron Beacon Journal
Cleveland Plain Dealer
Galleyboy.net
New York Times
LA Times
What's on your TIVO or iPod right now?
TIVO: The new season of Curb Your Enthusiasm, True Blood, Californication, and all things Food Network. Bobby Flay is the man!
What do you want more of in your life?
Time--specifically to spend with family and friends. Oh, and salsa. I love salsa.
What do you want less of in your life?
Phone calls, texts and e-mails. Oh, and paper cuts. Those hurt so freaking bad.
If you could add an extra hour to every day, how would you spend it?
I’d love to get a little more sleep.
What do you want for your birthday?
Hmmm. I never did get my DeLorean…
[IDA's suggestion: check out the BTTF.com's DeLorean Time Machine Rentals!]
More Than a Game opens in select theaters around the country on October 2nd, expanding to additional cities throughout the month. For play dates, click here.
Film: More Than A Game
Dir./Prod: Kristopher Belman
Prods.: Harvey Mason Jr., Matthew Perniciaro, Kevin Mann
Distributor: LionsGate
http://www.nike.com/nikeos/p/nikebasketball/en_US/mtag_ms
Five talented young basketball players from Akron, Ohio, star in this remarkable true-life, coming-of-age story about uncommon friendship in the face of unprecedented fame. Their coach is a hard-driving, charismatic, but inexperienced, player's father. Their leader: future NBA superstar Lebron James. This is the "Fab Five"'s story: an improbable nine-year journey that takes them from a decrepit inner-city gym to the doorstep of a national high school championship. Along the way, the close-knit team is repeatedly tested-both on and off the court-as James' unparalleled talent explodes into worldwide celebrity, threatening to destroy everything they've set out to achieve together. More Than a Game combines a series of unforgettable one-on-one interviews with rare news footage, never-before-seen home videos and personal family photographs to bring this heartwarming and wholly American story to life.
Opening: October 7
Venue: Film Forum/New York City
Film: The Yes Men Fix the World
Dirs./Prods.: Andy Bichibaum, Mike Bonanno
Co-Dir.: Kurt Engfehr
Distributor: Shadow Distribution
http://theyesmenfixtheworld.com/
The Yes Men Fix the World is a screwball true story about two gonzo political activists who, posing as top executives of giant corporations, lie their way into big business conferences and pull off the world's most outrageous pranks.
From New Orleans to India to New York City, armed with little more than cheap thrift-store suits, the Yes Men squeeze raucous comedy out of all the ways that corporate greed is destroying the planet.
Brüno meets Michael Moore in this gut-busting wake-up call that proves a little imagination can go a long way towards vanquishing the Cult of Greed.
Who knew fixing the world could be so much fun?
Opening: October 9
Film: Good Hair
Dir.: Jeff Stilson
Prods.: Chris Rock, Kevin O'Donnell, Nelson George
Distributors: Liddell Entertainment, Roadside Attractions, HBO Films
http://www.goodhairmovie.net/site/
An exposé of comic proportions that only Chris Rock could pull off, Good Hair visits beauty salons and hairstyling battles, scientific laboratories and Indian temples to explore the way hairstyles impact the activities, pocketbooks, sexual relationships and self-esteem of the black community.
Director Jeff Stilson follows Chris Rock on this raucous adventure prompted by Rock's daughter approaching him and asking, "Daddy, how come I don't have good hair?" Haircare professionals, beautyshop and barbershop patrons, as well as celebrities including Ice-T, Nia Long, Paul Mooney, Raven Symoné, Dr. Maya Angelou, Salt n Pepa, Eve and Reverend Al Sharpton all candidly offer their stories and observations to Rock while he struggles with the task of figuring out how to respond to his daughter's question.
Good Hair marks a reunion of the team behind Rock's acclaimed and Emmy Award-winning HBO series The Chris Rock Show, including producer Nelson George, writer-director Jeff Stilson, writers Lance Crouther and Chuck Sklar.
Opening: October 9
Venue: Cinema Village/New York City
Film: Visual Acoustics
Dir.: Eric Bricker
Distributor: Arthouse Films
http://www.juliusshulmanfilm.com/
Narrated by Dustin Hoffman, Visual Acoustics celebrates the life and career of Julius Shulman, the world's greatest architectural photographer, whose images brought modern architecture to the American mainstream. Shulman, who passed away this year, captured the work of nearly every modern and progressive architect since the 1930s including Frank Lloyd Wright, Richard Neutra, John Lautner and Frank Gehry. His images epitomized the singular beauty of Southern California's modernist movement and brought its iconic structures to the attention of the general public. This unique film is both a testament to the evolution of modern architecture and a joyful portrait of the magnetic, whip-smart gentleman who chronicled it with his unforgettable images.
Opening: October 16
Venue: Quad Cinema/New York City
Film: Food Beware: The French Organic Revolution
Dir.: Jean-Paul Jaud
Distributor: First Run Features
http://firstrunfeatures.co /foodbeware_press.html
For the first time ever, our children are growing up less healthy than their parents. As the rate of cancer and childhood obesity climbs ever upward each year, we must ask ourselves, why is this happening? What can we do to save our children's health--and our own?
Food Beware takes a look at a small village in the mountains of France, where, in opposition to powerful economic interests, the town's mayor has declared that the school lunchroom will serve mostly local food, grown by organic methods.
Featuring interviews with children, parents, teachers, health care workers, journalists, farmers, elected officials, scientists and researchers, we learn about challenges and rewards of their stand--the abuses of industry as well as the practical solutions at hand. What will it take to save our food supply? This moving testament to one community's answer is food for thought, and a case study of a growing revolution.
Opening: October 16
Venue: Facets Cinematheque/Chicago
Film: In Search of Memory
Dir.: Petra Seeger
Distributor: Icarus Films
http://icarusfilms.com/new200 /mem.html
"Memory is everything. Without it we are nothing," says neuroscientist Eric Kandel, winner of the Nobel Prize for his groundbreaking research on the physiology of the brain's storage of memories. As he explains, memory is the glue that binds our mental life together and provides a sense of continuity in our lives.
In Search of Memory is a compelling blend of autobiography and history that recounts the life of one of the most important neuroscientists of the 20th century and illuminates scientific developments in our understanding of the brain's role in recording and preserving memory. In addition to archival footage and dramatic re-creations of Kandel's childhood experiences in Nazi-occupied Vienna and his formative years as an emigrant in New York, the film features discussions with Kandel, friends and family, as well as his public lectures in Vienna and New York, which explore both his professional and personal life, especially his emotional ties to Judaism.
Both through its personal journey into the memory of this amazingly spry and witty 79-year old, especially his traumatic experiences during the Holocaust, and a visit to his Columbia University laboratory, where Kandel and his colleagues demonstrate their experimental research, In Search of Memory examines how the brain stores memories, the difference between short-term and long-term memory, Alzheimer's and age-related memory loss, and structural modifications to the brain that enhance memory.
In revisiting the people, places and objects of Kandel's lifetime experiences, In Search of Memory reveals how everything we undergo changes the brain, even our genetic make-up, and can determine the focus of a life's work.
Opening: October 21
Venue: Film Forum/New York City
Film: Rembrandt's J'Accuse
Dir.: Peter Greenaway
Prods.: Femke Wolting, Bruno Felix
http://www.petergreenaway.info/content/view/136/64/; http://rembrandt.submarine.nl/
Rembrandt's J'Accuse is an essayistic documentary in which Peter Greenaway's fierce criticism of today's visual illiteracy is argued by means of a forensic search of Rembrandt's Nightwatch. Greenaway explains the background, the context, the conspiracy, the murder and the motives of all its 34 painted characters who have conspired to kill for their combined self-advantage. Greenaway leads us through Rembrandt's paintings into 17th century Amsterdam. He paints a world that is democratic in principle, but is almost entirely ruled by twelve families. The notion exists of these regents as charitable and compassionate beings. But reality was different.
Greenaway points out to the viewer all sorts of "evidence" that can be found in the Nightwatch, but which no one ever noticed before. Just as in the acclaimed American show CSI, Greenaway knows how to make the evidence for the murder credible by basing his line of questioning on the facts: historical sources, comparisons with other works of art that contain a secret message and mainly by highlighting numerous details in the painting that were never noticed before or that were simply not correctly interpreted.
The documentary explains how and why The Nightwatch, Rembrandt's J'Accuse, is a criticism of Amsterdam's oligarchy and plutocracy of the Golden Age, a demonstration of the manipulative power of the visual image, and an indictment, which puts all the characters involved in a complex and devious conspiracy to murder. Greenaway himself plays the part of the public prosecutor, but is at the same time himself. In his 21st Century clothes, he will interrogate characters from the movie Nightwatching, dressed in historical costumes on their part in the murder conspiracy.
Opening: October 22--One Night Only
Venue: Cineplex Theaters in Canada
Film: Monty Python: Almost the Truth (The Lawyer's Cut)
Dir.: Alan Parker
Distributor: Cineplex Entertainment, Eage Rock Entertainment
www.cineplex.com/events; http://www.ifc.com/blogs/ifc-now/2009/04/monty-python-almost-the-truth.php
The Monty Python troupe includes (as if you don't know) John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Michael Palin and Graham Chapman. The film will feature interviews with surviving Python members, along with archive representation for the late, great Chapman. The Pythons will tell their life story and reveal deeper truths alongside the more tried and tested Python history lessons. The film will also study the Pythons up close and in some cases against their contemporaries: rock stars, comedians, actors, politicians, writers, broadcasters, religious groups and Python-haters. Every opinion on Monty Python will be brought to life on-screen for the first time with never-before-seen material. Dozens of featured guest interviews will include Jimmy Fallon, Lorne Michaels, Hugh Hefner, Eddie Izzard, Olivia Harrison, Steven Merchant, Dan Akroyd, Tim Roth and Seth Green among many others.
This theatrical version is drawn from a six-hour series that airs on IFC October 18-22.
Opening: October 23
Venue: Cinema Village/New York City
Film: Killing Kasztner: The Jew Who Dealt with Nazis
Dir./Prod.: Gaylen Ross
Prod.: Andrew Cohen
http://www.killingkasztner.com/
How much should you negotiate with the enemy? In Israel, the debate over that question evoked fury to the point of assassination. Such was the case of Reszo Kasztner, a Hungarian Jew who tried to rescue the last million Jews of Europe by negotiating face-to-face with Nazi leader Adolph Eichmann. Some people considered Kasztner a hero for his heart-stopping rescue of nearly 1,700 Jews on a train to safety in Switzerland, in what became known as "Kasztner's train." Yet later this extraordinary act was cast as one of betrayal.
After Kasztner moved to Israel, many of his new countrymen accused him of collaborating with the enemy. He fought a vicious libel battle in a trial that portrayed him as "The Man Who Sold his Soul to the Devil," and was ultimately assassinated in Tel Aviv in 1957. His only daughter, Zsuzsi, grew up after her father's murder, a child isolated and despised for his alleged crimes. In the world's disavowal of the man, his daughter cries, "They murder him over and over again."
The film follows Kasztner's family and survivors, plagued by a legacy they are determined to change. And after 50 years, the assassin Ze'ev Eckstein breaks his silence, revealing step by step the events and passions that transformed a young man into an agent of politics and revenge.
Part real-time investigation, part historical journey, Killing Kasztner unearths the Kasztner story and its ramifications for the survivors, his family and his country, exploring the very nature of history itself: who writes it, how it is remembered, and what is at stake for the present, and future.
Opening: October 28
Film: Act of God
Dir./Prod.: Jennifer Baichwal
Prods.: Nick de Pencier, Daniel Iron
Distributor: Zeitgeist Films
http://www.zeitgeistfilms.com/actofgod/
Is being hit by lightning a random natural occurrence or a predestined event? Accidents, chance, fate and the elusive quest to make sense out of tragedy underpin director Jennifer Baichwal's (Manufactured Landscapes) captivating new work, an elegant cinematic meditation on the metaphysical effects of being struck by lightning. To explore these profound questions, Baichwal sought out riveting personal stories from around the world--from a former CIA assassin and a French storm-chaser, to writer Paul Auster and improvisational musician Fred Frith. The philosophical anchor of the film, Auster was caught in a terrifying and deadly storm as a teenager, and it has deeply affected both his life and art: "It opened up a whole realm of speculation that I've continued to live with ever since." In his doctor brother's laboratory, Frith experiments with his guitar to demonstrate the ubiquity of electricity in our bodies and the universe. Visually dazzling and aurally seductive, Act of God singularly captures the harsh beauty of the skies and the lives of those who have been forever touched by their fury.
Opening: October 28
Film: Michael Jackson's This Is It
Dir./Prod.: Kenny Ortega
Prods.: Randy Phillips, Paul Gongaware
Distributor: Sony Pictures
http://www.thisisit-movie.com/
Michael Jackson's This Is It will offer Jackson fans and music lovers worldwide a rare, behind-the-scenes look at the performer as he developed, created and rehearsed for his sold-out concerts that would have taken place this past summer in London's O2 Arena. Chronicling the months from April through June 2009, the film is produced with the full support of the Estate of Michael Jackson and drawn from more than 100 hours of behind-the-scenes footage, featuring Jackson rehearsing a number of songs for the show. Audiences will be given a privileged and private look at Jackson as he has never been seen before. In raw and candid detail, Michael Jackson's This Is It captures the singer, dancer, filmmaker, architect, creative genius and great artist at work as he creates and perfects his final show.
Today Marina Zenovich, director and producer of the Emmy® Award-winning HBO Documentary Film Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired, released a statement about her reaction to David Wells' admission to the press that he lied to her during the making of the film. Here it is in its entirety:
“I am perplexed by the timing of David Wells’ statement to the press that he lied in his interview with me for the documentary ROMAN POLANSKI: WANTED AND DESIRED. Since June of 2008, the film has been quite visible on U.S. television via HBO, in theaters and on DVD, so it is odd that David Wells has not brought this issue to my attention before.
“For the record, on the day I filmed Mr. Wells at the Malibu Courthouse, February 11, 2005, he gave me a one-hour interview. He signed a release like all my other interviewees, giving me permission to use his interview in the documentary worldwide. At no time did I tell him that the film would not air in the United States.
“Mr. Wells was always friendly and open with me. At no point in the four years since our interview has he ever raised any issues about its content. In fact, in a July 2008 story in The New York Times, Mr. Wells corroborated the account of events that he gave in my film.
“I am astonished that he has now changed his story. It is a sad day for documentary filmmakers when something like this happens.”
Stay tuned for more Roman Report as events continue to unfold. On Friday, documentary.org will be heading to the screening and Q&A at UCLA. If you've missed recent developments about Polanski's recent arrest and how Wanted and Desired has potentially affected the case, you can catch up with these previous posts & articles:
-The Roman Report
-Polanski Arrested in Switzerland (9/27)
-Documentary
magazine's article on the film
The International Documentary Association (IDA) invites you and a guest to another great mixer. Meet professional filmmakers and network.
IDA staff and board members will help you get connected to the documentary community, share your projects, meet new friends and build your professional network.
When:
Wednesady, October 7, 2009
7:00pm - 9:30pm
Where:
e3rd Steakhouse & Lounge
734 E. 3rd. Street
Los Angeles, CA
No Host Bar
Photos from Past IDA Mixers:
IDA Mixer August, 28, 2009 Post
IDA Mixer July, 15, 2009 Photos
Sponsors and Affiliates:
The International Documentary Association (IDA) invites you and a guest to another great mixer. Meet professional filmmakers and network.
IDA staff & board members will help you get connected to the documentary community, share your projects, meet new friends and build your professional network.
Wednesady, October 7, 2009
7:00pm - 9:30pm
ESPN Magazine has come up with its list of Top 10 sports documentaries. It includes Hoop Dreams, When We Were Kings and Murderball to name a few. The whole list is published over at the Stranger than Fiction blog. What are yours?
Is big government good for the United States? Maybe it's just good for the National Parks. That's pretty much what Time magazine columnist James Poniewozik argued when talking about Ken Burns' new six-part PBS series The National Parks: America's Best Idea. His piece got Patrick Goldstein at the Los Angeles Times pondering the same thing. What do you think? Check out both pieces. But read them online, the trees will appreciate it.There will be no 2010 CineVegas Film Festival. Festival President Robin Greenspun and Artistic Director Trevor Groth announced today that the event will be canceled due to the economic downturn. "Given the current economic climate and the pressures it has created, we made the difficult decision to put CineVegas on hiatus for the coming year," Greenspun said in a statement. "CineVegas has become such a well respected film festival, and rather than allow the economy to affect its level of quality we have opted to put the event on hold." (via indieWIRE)
Showtime has picked up a documentary which covers New Jersey hair metal rockers Bon Jovi during the band's 2008 tour, called When We Were Beautiful. We think Jon was more beautiful with that '80s hair, but we'll take this all the same. The doc will debut on Saturday, Oct. 24. (via TV Week)
Monty Python: Almost the Truth (The Lawyer's Cut) will have a one-night only viewing at select Cineplex Entertainment theaters across Canada, announced Cineplex Entertainment and Eagle Rock Entertainment. On October 22, Canadian theatergoers will see the HD doc, followed by a Q&A shot live in New York with the Pythons. On October 27, the Monty Python: Almost the Truth (The Lawyer's Cut) DVD-set will be released, a six-part docu-series from which the theatrical version is drawn from. (via Realscreen.com)The San Francisco Film Society announced a partnership with film fundraising website IndieGoGo (indiegogo.com) to provide independent filmmakers access to a greater range of fundraising opportunities. SFFS and IndieGoGo will provide filmmakers a single-platform solution integrating fiscal sponsorship with audience-building and crowd-funding efforts, thus streamlining filmmakers' efforts to raise money and build audiences.
A documentary fan who simply states, "I love documentaries and I love making slideshows set to music" married his two passions together with a fun slideshow set to a Neutral Milk Hotel instrumental track and posted it on his blog. The video features 240 docs he's watched (in order) since he started subscribing to Netflix at the end of 2004 (see, the catalog goes deep). Check it out:
In the days since filmmaker Roman Polanski's arrest in Switzerland in connection with his 1977 conviction of unlawful sex with a 13-year-old girl in Los Angeles, California, the blogosphere has been electrified with debate about the 76-year-old director's fate. On the one hand, over 100 filmmakers have signed a petition calling for Polanski's release, while Patrick Goldstein of the Los Angeles Times documents the sturm und drang from the conservative front, as well as from normally liberal outlets such as The Huffington Post. SpoutBlog's Christopher Campbell rounds up a wide range of opinions from the film world, including The Hot Blog's David Poland, who, in three posts, argues for Polanski's extradition.
And why the arrest now? Stephen Shaefer of the Boston Herald speculates that it was partly due to Marina's Zenovich's Emmy Award-winning Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired , in which former prosecutor David Wells admits on camera to coaching Judge Laurence Rittenbrand about sentencing guidelines, which compelled Polanski's legal team to file a motion to dismiss the case.
But not so fast: Wells yesterday admitted to The Daily Beast's Marcia Clark (the lead prosecutor in the O.J. Simpson murder trial) that he had lied in the documentary: "I lied. I know I shouldn't have done it, but I did. The director of the documentary told me it would never air in the States. I thought it made a better story if I said I'd told the judge what to do." Ouch.
Curiouser and curiouser...The New York Post reports that filmmaker Brett Ratner (Rush Hour; The X-Men: The Last Stand) would be producing a sequel to Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired, which EW.com reports that Zenovich will be directing.
Tune in on Friday, when we report from the screening and Q&A at UCLA-which should be the biggest happening in Westwood since Michael Jackson's death . In the meantime, for a Documentary magazine article on the film, click here.
The Way We Get By, from director Aron Gaudet and producer Gita Pullapilly, has garnered a raft of festival awards this year, including a Special Jury Award at SXSW and an Audience Award at Full Frame. Its latest stop on its festival and self-distribution circuit is Washington, DC, for a special screening Wednesday, September 30, at the North Orientation Theater in the US Capitol.
The film, which profiles a group of senior citizens of Bangor, Maine who have been faithfully greeting soldiers at a tiny Bangor airport as they return home from their tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, will screen before an audience of VIPs such as Dr. Jill Biden, wife of Vice President Joe Biden; Maine Senators Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins; Maine Representatives Michael Michaud and Chellie Pingree; and representatives from USO and the Points of Light Institute.
The Way We Get By, of which IDA is a fiscal sponsor, profiles three of the greeters, who, in providing this service for the past five years, have found a purpose in their lives amid their personal struggles with aging, disease, loneliness, memories of war, and personal loss. The film will air nationally on PBS's P.O.V. series on Veteran's Day, November 11. In addition, through a special partnership with Bay Area Video Coalition, ITVS and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, an interactive, online site, "Returning Home," will be launched on Veterans Day. "Returning Home" will ensure that American soldiers, both newly returned and those whose service ended many years ago, are not forgotten, and that there is a place to share thoughts and memories, as well as a place to find support among a community that began to take shape among senior citizens in Bangor, Maine. This companion site to The Way We Get By continues the mission of the Maine Troop Greeters, taking these gestures internationally.
"This is a very personal story to me," said Aron Gaudet, in a statement. "Witnessing firsthand how my mother's life changed in such positive ways [His mother, Joan Gaudet, is one of the troop greeters in the film.], while at the same time touching the lives of troops from all over the country, convinced me this was a story that could inspire people. I knew it could be a way to show the everyday struggles of senior citizens and an inspirational story of how these three seniors use a simple handshake to change their lives, and the lives of the 900,000-plus troops they've greeted."
For more information about The Way We Get By, click here.
Capitalism: A Love Story ran on just four screens (it's going wide this weekend, starting Oct. 2) and made $240,000. Do a little math and that's an average of $60,000 per screen, which makes it the movie with the highest per-screen average this year.
To put it in perspective, the No. 1 movie at the box office, Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs (which, don't worry, isn't a doc) made averaged $8,000 per screen.
On top of the weekend dough, add about $9,000 per screen, per day since Capitalism's opening on Wednesday, Sept. 24 (indieWIRE runs those numbers in relation to others, right here) and the total take so far is a little over $300,000.
When Capitalism goes into wide release this week it will run on about 1,000 screens. While you're waiting for that, read all about the film in our Documentary magazine piece: "Love and Luchre: Michael Moore Follows the Money."